


when all of my friends were in one place (when all of my dreams were of your face)

by jacobr



Series: fuck it, frat jercy [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Trans Male Character, a love letter to the state of new york disguised as pjo fanfiction, frat AU, i am a jason grace apologist and i'm not sorry, knowing each other's coffee orders is a love language, percy refers to like five different people as his best friend and i stand by that, there is only one letter differentiating "babe" and "baby" but it's impact is immeasurable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:53:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 64,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23886985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacobr/pseuds/jacobr
Summary: They’ve both always taken it a little too seriously, being in charge. Yeah, it’s a frat, but to Percy it’s acceptance and to Jason it’s proving to his dad that he can be a leader even if he doesn’t want to go into some soulless accounting position.(or, Jason and Percy are president and VP, respectively, and they're just friends, no matter what the rest of the e-board keeps muttering behind their backs)
Relationships: Jason Grace/Percy Jackson, background Annabeth Chase/Piper McLean
Series: fuck it, frat jercy [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1835704
Comments: 40
Kudos: 281





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this immediately after getting kicked out of the dorms at my college for coronavirus reasons, and finished it mostly out of spite. It's incredibly self indulgent, I project every emotion I've ever felt on Percy, and it's the longest thing I've ever written. 
> 
> Because this always bothers me, this is a story about a trans man written by a trans man. Percy's experiences do not reflect the experience of every trans man, but they do reflect mine.
> 
> (Title from Feel Bad by A Story Told)

Their junior year ends pretty quietly, all things considered. Percy had been worried that as most of their executive board graduated, the frat would start to fall apart. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Jason to run it, more that he didn’t trust the underclassmen to not lose their minds when Beckendorf left. Charles had been in charge for what felt like forever, in some kind of leadership role since his sophomore year, and had never faltered in his responsibilities. 

Somehow, despite Percy’s doubts and general unhelpfulness, Jason manages to pull off the end of the year once the seniors graduate. He makes sure that all the underclassmen who were moving into the house get their keys, and that all the graduating seniors move all of their belongings out on time. He enforces the no-pets-in-the-house policy, somehow withstanding the wiles of the Stoll twins lobbying to bring their family dog next year, as a mascot. 

Percy watches all of this more or less from the same spot on the sofa. He might still be bitter about not being president. He might just be burned out from finals, or hungover from blacking out to celebrate them being over. Even he isn’t sure. 

To the best of his understanding, his job is to make sure people follow any rules Jason puts in place, and to back him up if anyone argues. No one bothered to tell him what a vice president does, beyond that, and at this point he doesn’t care. 

Like, he wants to care, but at this moment, all he can do is sit and wait until the e-board breaks for the summer, and he can go home and cuddle his baby sister, and eat his mom’s food and walk his dog as far as she’ll let him. It’s his last summer before he enters the grind of senior year, and then the real world, and he wants to make the most of it.

It’s a hot morning in June when Jason finally collapses next to him on the couch, kicking his feet up on the coffee table that’s been in the house probably since the fraternity was founded. It wobbles when he makes contact, and his Vans are in a stain that’s been sticky for weeks. Percy doesn’t point it out. Jason’s right arm is draped on the back of the sofa, close to Percy’s shoulders and he thinks he can feel the other boy’s body heat through his shirt. He doesn’t point that out either. 

Jason’s voice is rough, with overuse or maybe just exhaustion, when he speaks. “You ready? My plane’s in a few hours but I can help pack your car if you need.”

They haven’t had a real conversation in probably a week, at least. They’d both been running for president, but Percy had realized, right before the election, that he was terrified of having that kind of responsibility and dropped out of the race. Even though it was his choice that made Jason the nominee for sure, he still resents him a little, the way he just seems better equipped to take on the role.

Even tired, the leadership is still there. Jason’s about to fly across the country, but of course his first thought is to help Percy pack, like he doesn’t live six hours away by car, like he doesn’t come back to the house over the summer anyway to make sure it’s still standing. It’s sweet. Percy hates him.

“I’m actually about to head out, but thanks man,” Percy manages. “Need a ride to the airport?” That’s a win for being an adult, for not hurting his best friend’s feelings over something he had nothing to do with.

Jason grins, the same stupid endearing grin he has when an underclassman asks him for help with homework, or dating advice, or to move a table. “Oh, that would be great!” He sounds a little surprised, like maybe Percy has let his emotions be too clear on his face, and Jason can tell that he’s still smarting from the election. They’re close enough, it wouldn’t be surprising if Jason had figured it out somehow.

He feels kind of shitty about that. It’s not Jason’s fault that Percy took his name out of the running for president. He doesn’t want to be punishing him for it, intentionally or not. 

“Do you want to grab coffee before we go? My treat if you’re driving.”

Percy feels a smile on his face, like his traitor brain is falling for Jason’s boy-next-door, All-American manners. For a boy raised rich in California, he’s got an astonishingly good grasp on what Percy’s mom calls ‘midwestern voice.’ “Sounds good.”

They pile Jason’s bag into the back of Percy’s car, on top of all Percy’s shit. He allows himself to laugh at the way Jason has to fold himself into the shotgun seat because of the amount of bags in the car. He’s trying to be on his best behavior, but he’s not a saint, and Jason looks so put out about the whole situation.

He feels better by the time they’re on the way to the airport, each with the biggest iced coffee Tim Hortons could give them. He even insists on walking Jason inside to security, holding his backpack as the other boy wrestles his duffle bag onto the scale to check it. 

When they get to the beginning of the TSA line, Jason turns his devastating smile on him again. Percy feels dumb and gay and a little sad all of a sudden as the other boy gently reclaims his backpack from Percy’s shoulder. He swings it on to his own back, and leans in and suddenly they’re hugging. 

He’s been kind of angry since the election, at himself more than Jason, but it’s still made him pull away a little. It feels like he hasn’t had this in forever, didn’t even realize he was missing it until they were holding each other again. Maybe he’s been shittier than he realized. 

Percy brings his hands up around his back, and wishes fervently that his face wasn’t pressed into a firm deltoid. It’s an hour or maybe 30 seconds later when Jason is stepping away, tossing a “love you, babe. Have a good summer,” over his shoulder as he goes. 

Percy barely manages a “You too. Text when you land?” in response, wishing, not for the first time, that Jason wasn’t the kind of guy to call his friends ‘babe.’ Wishing, not for the first time, that he didn’t kind of love it. 

Once Jason is through the TSA line, Percy heads back to his car. The drive home is easy, one he’s done a thousand times. As he pulls onto I-90, he pulls up the “drive home <3” playlist that his mom made him, with input from Estelle. 

It’s a cute playlist, and he lets his mind drift as the New York scenery flies by. He knows by now the places he feels safe stopping. He’s been on T (and passing) long enough that he could probably pee safely in any of the rest stops, but old habits die hard.

He stops once outside of Albany, and manages to make it to the NYC gridlock by a perfectly respectable 3:15. He’s at his mom’s apartment by 4, and he leaves the majority of his shit in the car in favor of bounding up the stairs to see his family.

Paul isn’t home yet, but his mom and Estelle greet him enthusiastically, and Mrs. O’Leary throws herself at him with the full force of her body. He loses his balance, tumbling over as she lays down next to him, throwing her massive head into his lap and drooling all over his shorts as he rubs her ears. It’s so fucking good to be home. 

The days blend together into weeks. He picks up shifts whenever he can at his old job from high school. They take him back every summer, and he’s grateful for the money, doesn’t even mind the monotony of cashiering. The grocery store tends to be quiet, and he’s friendly with the elderly lady who runs it. 

When he’s not working, he walks Mrs. O’Leary. They go around the city, or to Central Park. A few times when he’s feeling really ambitious, he piles her into his car and they drive out of the city, to the longer, more wooded trails. Sometimes he brings Estelle in her stroller, and relishes in the feeling that the three of them could be the only ones in the world. 

He appreciates it, the way that she and Mrs. O’Leary love him unconditionally, and are only really interested in looking around in wonder at the city or trails around them. It’s almost humbling, the uncomplicated way that they love him and he loves them.

He sees Grover when he can, but he’s got a big fancy internship at some nonprofit this summer, so he’s spending most of his summer trapped in some office building. It’s kind of funny, Percy thinks, that Grover got into conservation work because of how much he loves the outdoors, and all it’s led to is working in the middle of the city. Still, he seems happy when they catch up, so it can’t be all bad. 

Slowly, he starts to feel like a person again. Every time Paul claps him on the shoulder, or his mom kisses him on the head as she walks by, he feels warmer, loved. 

He loves being in college, feels like himself more there than he ever did in high school. His boys are his favorite people in the world, and his professors are supportive and seem to genuinely care. It still grates on him sometimes though, to be so far away from his family that he loves so much. He feels selfish for even thinking it, knowing people like Jason and Piper and Leo are thousands of miles from home, when he’s a six hour drive at most. 

When he’s gone, he feels an irritation in his conscience, like he’s slacking on some kind of familial duty. He knows it’s fucking misogynistic to feel like he’s the man of his household, like he shouldn’t leave his mom and sister to fend for themselves. His mom is the smartest person he knows, and would verbally kick his ass if he said it out loud. He doesn’t even really believe it. 

It just nags him, like it has ever since he came out. His dad wasn’t there so he had to step up. He’s a boy, so he has to be the breadwinner. It’s so fucking stupid. Sally Jackson works her ass off for her family, and she’s his hero. His mom doesn’t need anything from him, and he loves her for it.

He’s always wondered if there’s any kind of research on it, some kind of evidence linking transmasculine people who grew up with single moms to internalized misogyny. 

Anyway. It’s good to be home. It’s good to feel useful to his family, buying groceries when he can get away with it, bringing Estelle some new books when he gets the chance. With Paul’s added income, his family isn’t even really struggling anymore, much more secure than they were when it was just him and his mom and he was getting kicked out of schools because no one bothered to show him how to manage his ADHD. Still, he supplements their finances when he can, out of habit. Out of internalized misogyny, apparently. 

Right after they all get home, the e-board group chat goes nuts for a little while like it always does. Jason texts it when he lands- “Just touched down. Have a good summer everyone :).” 

(Percy tries not to feel superior when he gets a separate text- “finally home thanks again for the ride :)) make it back to sally okay?”) 

(He tries even harder not to feel superior at the grammar differences, at the leadership persona that Jason feels like he has to project as president versus the real Jason, the one he gets to himself.)

They all check in from their respective homes, swap plans for the summer and talk about nothing for the first few weeks. After that, it peters out for a little while, and Percy is grateful for the break. God, he loves them but he doesn’t really care what Leo is making in his mom’s shop. He doesn’t need to hear about it every day.

He still texts with Jason almost every day, and Frank at least a few times a week, but mostly surface-level stuff, Jason texting him pictures of the beach and his dog, and LA at night. Percy sends him back pictures of Estelle and Mrs. O’Leary, along with commentary on the regulars in the grocery store who remember him from last summer, and Rachel and Grover, when he sees them.

Frank sends him about the same things, just keeping him updated on whatever the fuck there is to do in Vancouver (which is apparently not a lot).

It takes until the Fourth of July for the group chat to start back up. He’s lying on the beach in Montauk, thinking sort of half heartedly about putting more sunscreen on his chest. It’s possible that his doctor said something about not letting his scars get sunburned. It’s also possible that Percy wasn’t listening when he said it. 

His eyes are closed behind his sunglasses, but he can hear Estelle and his mom splashing around in the water somewhere to his left. He can sense more than hear Paul in the chair next to him, flipping through some book that one of his coworkers had recommended. He has a massive travel cup of sangria next to him, that he’s been working on for most of the day. His mom had snickered at it, but otherwise not commented. He isn’t drunk, but he’s comfortably tipsy. 

His sunscreen contemplation is interrupted by his step dad's hand on his ankle, gently shaking him. “Perce. Percy. Bud, your phone’s buzzing.” 

He sits up, feeling a burn in his abs that reminds him he should probably go to the gym at some point. Paul tosses him his phone, and he groans as he recognizes the group chat flashing across the screen. He gets a mock-sympathetic look from Paul as he unlocks the phone, briefly glancing at the picture of him and Jason that’s been his background since Jason drunkenly set it months ago. He taps into Facebook Messenger to see an already incredibly long conversation about fundraising ideas for the next year.

“Hey guys!” Jason had written. “Hope everyone is having a good break so far. I just talked to Annabeth about philanthropy for next year and she thinks the Gammas are going to really step up their game. I am, of course, not encouraging competition because any philanthropy should be to help the cause, not to embellish the reputation of an individual organization. However, I’d like to raise more than them (lol). Anyone have any ideas to pitch?”

Leo had responded first, to mock Jason for being so dramatic about the whole thing, and then to pitch a wet t-shirt contest, (“but for us! It’s not misogynistic if the people being drenched are men!”). Frank had pitched some kind of complicated idea that Percy doesn’t have the energy to read at this moment. 

Will just sent a photo of him and Nico, clearly already drunk at their Fourth of July party. The caption is “Can this wait, Grace?” Percy emphasizes it, and attaches a picture of him with Estelle from that morning, an American flag in her tiny little fist. She’s in his lap, he’s leaning down to kiss her cheek and they’re wearing matching tank tops. He thinks they’re adorable. 

“Sorry I’m doing my JOB,” is Jason’s response. “Also, I forgot what time it was on the east coast. Please continue drinking I support you.”

He “likes” the picture of Percy and Estelle, too, ignoring the one of Will and Nico.

It’s such a Jason response that Percy feels a bolt of fondness in his chest. The boy cares so deeply about the frat, for more than just “brotherhood,” or however they market themselves. He genuinely wants to follow through on their philanthropy, wants to make a difference in the community around them. It’s why Percy took himself out of the running for president, because he knew Jason was a better fit for the job. He probably could have done it fine, but Jason’s ability to stay on top of everything that needed to be done was unmatched.

Three years ago, he never would have been able to step down, but they were closer now. They still fought, constantly, but the arguments were over dumb stuff, (who would win in a fight, who would win in a fight if they had superpowers, etc). They no longer had any heat behind them, like they did when they were nineteen, and Percy thought every insult was someone undermining his right to be in a frat as a trans guy, and Jason ached to prove himself as more than the son of a businessman. 

They lived together now, and knew each other better than almost anyone else. They were each other’s best friends, in a way that he could have never predicted their freshman year. Jason had seen him cry on the phone with his mom about missing Estelle’s first steps. Percy had seen him break down after hanging up with his own sister, who was overseas volunteering in a war zone, but refused to leave because she could “do more good here.” That shit bonds people.

They made a good team, and now, a few months removed from his decision, Percy was grateful he had chosen to take over as vice president. They were effectively equals, but Jason got to handle the part that he loved and Percy hated, being the face of the frat at all public events. 

He sends a quick heart to the group chat, texts Piper to ask her to take Jason out to a party for the Fourth so he doesn’t stress about planning events all night. He tosses his phone back to Paul, who patiently slips it back into the family tote bag as Percy rolls over to let his back burn in the sun for a while.

The dam finally broken, his e-board responsibilities start to return. They have group Skype calls to set up a tentative event schedule, and go over house rules for the upcoming year. Jason has changed his mind about the house bylaws and wants to bring his dog, an emotional support golden named Jupiter, and they have to amend the constitution to allow it. (Percy seconds this motion immediately. He says it’s because he wants Mrs. O’Leary to visit, but it’s mostly so he can see Jason light up every time he sees his dog. It’s fucking cute.)

As school gets closer, it’s even more administrative, making sure they have everyone’s shirt sizes on file for rush t-shirts, making sure everyone has their emergency contact paperwork filled out in case they get like, alcohol poisoning or something. He’s not super clear on why this isn’t Frank’s job, given that he’s the secretary, but he’s happy to have something to do. 

Somehow, it’s late August all of a sudden and his mom is helping him pile his bags back into his car. Neither of them are crying, but he feels it creeping on as Estelle throws her arms around his neck. He kisses her on the forehead and passes her to his mom so he can hug Paul as well. 

As they separate, Sally gently tugs on the Star of David around his neck, pulling it out from under the collar of his t-shirt and patting it so it lays flat on his chest. “Call if you need anything sweetie.” They’ve done this a thousand times, but it always feels uncomfortable in the same way, like a part of him wants to stay in their tiny apartment forever, instead of heading back upstate. 

He slides into the driver’s seat and shuts the door behind him, trying to ignore his sister’s eyes on him as he pulls into traffic and heads north.


	2. Chapter 2

Jason flies into the same tiny airport every time he comes back to school. Percy knows it pretty well by now, knows where he can park without getting a ticket, and where the cops will let him idle much longer than the sign suggests. It’s muscle memory when he pulls into the parking garage, grabbing his ticket and heading towards arrivals.

Usually he just waits in the car, but it feels wrong this time. It’s their senior year, the last time that he’ll see Jason Grace fresh off a summer on the beach, tan skin glowing in a way that makes him look almost godly. 

The first time they did it, a few days before their sophomore year officially started, Percy had been shocked into silence as Jason slid into the passenger seat of his car. Jason still had long-ish hair at the time, shaggy as fuck and bleached even blonder from the sun, swept haphazardly behind his ears. He looked like every lacrosse player that Percy had ever pretended not to have a crush on in high school. 

As he waits by the luggage carousel, he tries to commit all of it to memory. He loves seeing Jason come towards him, too bright for the drab western New York airport, too big for the small town they live in. He wants to remember this side of Jason Grace, the one that he gets to himself. The one that hasn’t even had to ask Percy to pick him up in years, knows he’ll be waiting with his shitty car to bring them both to school. 

It’s one of the things he had told his mom he was worried about, about a week before he left, losing this next year. He loves this part of their tradition, loves getting to arrive back at school with his best friend by his side, loves that they’re always introduced as a pair. 

Last year, when they got to the house, Beckendorf had been moving his stuff in, with his sisters standing around to help. As they pulled up, he’d greeted them and turned to his sisters to introduce them as “PercyandJason, they’re juniors.” Their names were one word, and to the Beckendorf girls, they were one entity. Percy almost felt guilty about how much he liked the idea. 

He’s making himself sad thinking about it when he feels a hand come down on his shoulder. It’s huge and tan, and when he turns he’s already opening his arms for Jason. They hug for longer than bros should, a little gentler maybe, but they slap each other’s backs several times while separating, so that makes up for it. Probably.

At the very least, Percy saves a little face.

As always, Jason looks taller and broader than he did when he left, like as soon as his plane touched down on the west coast he’d blossomed. His hair is longer than it’s been since sophomore year, hidden under a Kappa Sig hat. He’s wearing the pair of running shorts that Percy has always believed are an indecent length, showing off the tan of his legs, in sharp contrast with his white Vans. His shirt is faded, old and a little torn, a rush t-shirt from their freshman year. 

Actually, it might be Percy’s shirt, now that he’s looking. It’s a little tight on Jason’s shoulders, a little shorter than it should be. There’s a tightness in his stomach about that, seeing Jason wearing his clothes like it’s nothing, like they might as well be his. He doesn’t want to address it.

Jupiter is sitting patiently at their feet, waiting for his turn with Percy’s affection. Percy falls to his knees briefly, letting the dog try to crawl into his lap, and lick all over his face. He rubs his thumbs over Jupiter’s ears, ruffling his fur until the dog gets bored of him and stands back up. 

Percy allows himself to look at Jason, taking him in one more time. He looks good, and no amount of keeping in touch over text, or FaceTiming when they could, has prepared Percy for this. They were still practically children when they met, seventeen and eighteen, away from home for the first time. Now, Jason looks like an adult, projects an air of trustworthiness and leadership. 

Percy hopes he projects the same, somehow. He knows people look at him and see mischief and a dislike for authority (which is true), but he wants to be taken seriously as a vice president, wants to present a united front with Jason. 

Jason is grinning as he grabs his bag off the carousel, the tattoo on his forearm flexing with the movement. His scar stands out in sharp relief against the tan of his face, and they’re both so familiar that Percy could cry. “Hey man,” he starts. “It’s so good to see you. Ready to head out? I think Leo wants us to have a meeting tonight.”

The drive back is barely half an hour, 390 empty at this time of day. (390 always feels empty to Percy, compared to the crush of any road around the city.) He relishes it though, grateful for the time with Jason, not President Grace. 

They’ve both always taken it a little too seriously, being in charge. Yeah, it’s a frat, but to Percy it’s acceptance and to Jason it’s proving to his dad that he can be a leader even if he doesn’t want to go into some soulless accounting position. It means that as soon as they get out of the car, Jason changes a little bit, still kind and approachable, but a little bit more reserved. This version of him rarely shows any kind of vulnerability even around the e-board, but there’s absolutely none when he’s around the underclassmen. 

It’s always a little later in the day, when most people have gone to their respective rooms in the house, that he lets himself collapse at the kitchen table and freak out about his bio lab or history final, whatever he’s been ignoring all day in favor of taking care of everyone else. Percy’s the only one who’s really allowed to see it, who Jason lets gently stroke his hair and walk him through his flashcards or talk him down from dropping out, (he threatens it almost monthly). 

It might be selfish, to love those moments as much as he does, but he fucking loves getting a part of Jason all to himself. 

It feels like things get crazy as soon as they arrive at the house. They’re parking and carrying their shit in, and then suddenly Leo wants to talk about the new doorbell system he worked out (it flashes a light on the second floor as well, in case no one is on the first floor to hear it), and Frank wants to check in about recruitment strategies.

They stopped at a Wegman’s right outside of campus to load up on beer, and they have to be careful to sneak it in while Leo’s mom is distracted talking to Jason about football? Maybe? Percy wasn’t really listening. Jason has the best Parent Voice of all of them, so it’s always his job to chat cheerfully about sports or politics or celebrity gossip while the rest of them smuggle things in. 

Even though like half of them are legal, it’s bad optics to be carrying a bag full of shitty beer into college housing. Moms don’t really like to see it. Plausible deniability is real and all of Kappa Sig relies on it.

Percy drops his bags in his room and then lets himself fall into autopilot, greeting the Stoll twins and their dad, Will and his mom, some sophomores whose names he isn’t even sure he knows. Jupiter sits at his side for all of this, maybe sensing that Percy is the one who’s more stressed in this particular moment. His feathery tail is a comforting heat on the back of Percy’s calf.

Before he knows it, most of the boys are moved in and the parents are gone. They’ve spent the better part of the afternoon carrying furniture around, swapping desks in and out of rooms, and bringing additional chairs into the kitchen area. It’s hard work, and he’s grateful that he no longer has to worry about having a binder on while lifting, or not exerting himself too much. 

He and Jason situate themselves in front of the fireplace in the living room, with Leo, Frank and Will sitting in chairs or on the floor next to them. The rest of the guys who live in the house filter in, piling themselves onto sofas and chairs dragged in from the kitchen. Jupiter tries to make himself useful by wandering around, herding stragglers into the room. (That’s what Jason claims he’s doing. Percy privately suspects that the dog just wants attention.)

When they’re all gathered, Jason bangs his gavel, (one that’s been in the hands of the frat’s president ostensibly since the chapter’s founding, made of off-white plastic), against the wall gently. “Happy fall semester, boys!” he calls, and pauses for a second as the heathens gathered in the room whoop and cheer. 

When it’s quiet again, he continues. “As I’m sure you’re all aware, we made a couple changes to the constitution. Most of these only impact the house rules, so make sure you go ahead and take a look when you get a chance. We went over them as an e-board, but if anyone wants to move any other amendments, we’ll have a full chapter meeting this Sunday-”

***

The first week flies by after that. They’re seniors now, and don’t really have to leave early to find the buildings their classes are in, or worry about making a good impression with their teachers. Every one of Percy’s classes is in the same building this semester, and he’s had most of his professors for other classes in the past. They already know him, for better or worse. 

He makes it a point to eat at the house when he can, save as much money on food as possible. The only exception he allows himself to make is a weekly lunch with Annabeth, meeting her outside of the communications building every Friday at one pm. 

He loves her dearly, but their lunch always feels bigger than just friends catching up. She’s his reminder that there are other facets of his life than just his academics and his devotion to his boys. As much as he wants to lose himself in the blind acceptance of his frat, he knows he needs to spend time with his community, not forget that part of himself. Annabeth is the coolest person he’s ever met, and the first other trans person he ever knew. 

They met during orientation, in some awful tour group. They’d been playing some get-to-know-you game, one of the ones that only makes the whole situation more awkward. They had to introduce themselves with names, pronouns, and their major. 

The tour guide had given some horrible explanation about pronouns, stumbling through some bullshit about how “some people don’t identify with the gender they were assigned at birth, and that’s okay!” Percy had cringed, and then cringed harder as the big New England Boys sitting next to him had each laughed through their introductions. 

“I’m James/Jack/Matt and obviously I’m a boy,” was repeated more times than he was comfortable with, and by the time they got to him he had felt so fucking small.

“I’m Percy,” he managed. “My pronouns are he/him, and I’m a Greek History major.” He was terrified that his voice would crack through it, but it didn’t, and the New England Boys seemed to accept him as one of their own without any question.

A few more people introduced themselves until they ended up at the most beautiful girl Percy had ever seen. She was tall, and sitting with incredible posture, not even remotely trying to blend in with the people around her. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, effortlessly and a little messy, but she was still striking. “My name is Annabeth,” she said, in a deep voice that somehow fit her perfectly. “My pronouns are she/her, and I’m studying architecture.” In that moment, Percy knew without a doubt that if this girl ran for president of the United States, she would have his vote. 

Later, when they were walking around the campus, getting what felt like the thousandth tour of orientation week, she had caught up to where he was walking with the New England Boys and bumped her elbow against his. “Hey,” she said, pointing at the tiny knotted friendship bracelet around his wrist. It was in the colors of the trans flag, and his mom had tied it around his wrist after dropping him off at his dorm a few days ago. “Me too. Want to get lunch?”

That had been like a dam breaking. Since that day, they had had a standing lunch date at least once a week every semester. She quickly became his best friend on campus, and even now, three years later, she was still the most badass person he knew. 

Their freshman year, they practically lived in each other’s rooms. If she wasn’t sprawled across his bed, reading some article about the electoral college aloud, he was in her desk chair, complaining about how most of their texts for American History erased all the genocides the US had been complicit in. Her roommate, a quiet, kind girl named Lacy had apparently assumed for their entire freshman year that they were together. 

(She’d been right, for half of it, but they’d never told her that.)

It took both of them a while to work up the courage to make it to a meeting of the campus’ trans club. They held hands on the walk there, and slid into the meeting a few minutes late, trying to avoid anyone’s eyes. The chairs were arranged in a circle, but there were a few tucked in the back, where no one would look at them, and that’s where they ended up.

Neither of them said anything the first time, but they’d been there every Monday night since. Sometimes one of them will share, but most of the time they’re content to just listen. No one laughs when they give their pronouns, no one says “well obviously” about their gender identity. It’s nice. 

They’d leaned on each other heavily when deciding to get involved in Greek life. They’d both kind of craved that level of affirmation, to be in an organization with a gender requirement and to be sorted with the correct gender for once. Passing is a bullshit social construct, but it’s easier if you’re wearing a frat t-shirt, easier if you’re in an Instagram post that says “please welcome the new brothers of Kappa Sig.”

They’d gone to the activity fair together, walking to the aisle dedicated to Greek life and just standing frozen in the entrance. The tables were overwhelming, the boys yelling and throwing footballs around, while the girls mingled among themselves, making it difficult to tell who belonged with which sorority. 

Their trance had been broken when a tall guy walked over and clapped Percy on the back. “What’s up man? Just looking, or you got an idea of where you want to rush?” He was beautiful and tall and blond, with a scar on his eye that made him look slightly dangerous, instead of like every other ex-lax bro at the tables. 

For some reason, he seemed trustworthy, and Percy let the boy, (Luke, was his name, he found out later), lead him over to the Kappa Sig table. They’d been kind and cheerful, shown him pictures of old fundraising events and charity work, boys climbing all over each other to all be visible in the frame. Each had screamed warmth, and he ached to be a part of it. 

Each boy at the table had dapped him up before he left, and he gave them his phone number and his brand new school email. 

He’d met up with Annabeth outside the gym the fair was held in, and was happy to hear that she had also found a sorority she was interested in, been pulled in by a girl named Silena and seduced with stories about their house and how highly they valued supporting each others’ successes. 

They’d both rushed, and both been welcomed with open arms. They’d been lucky enough to pick organizations that had reputations on campus of being queer-friendly, and it was easy to fall into the pattern of Sunday night chapter meetings, philanthropy and party planning. 

Now she’s a part of his life, more or less a fixture in the Kappa Sig house during finals week, when she comes over to help him study, or bully him into taking a break. He’d go to hers, but the Alpha Sig house has always scared him a little. There’s a sign right inside the door that had clearly been purchased from the Target children’s room decoration section that reads ‘NO BOYS ALLOWED.’ It’s a joke, he’s pretty sure, but he didn’t want to test it as a freshman and even now, as the president’s best friend, it still feels a little threatening. It feels safer to hang out elsewhere. 

Basically, they’re close. 

***

The first week flies by, and then it’s the second, then the third. He facetimes his family when he gets the chance, does homework on the roof of the house with Jason stretched out next to him working on something on his laptop. He seems to fix a truly ridiculous number of social missteps from the younger boys, dictating texts to upset girlfriends or partners in a group project that someone (Connor) forgot to do his part of. He and Frank go hiking once, venturing into the Adirondacks just for some peace and quiet. 

Before he knows it, it’s time to plan the first event of the year. They’ve always had a rivalry with the Gammas, big, mean guys who seem to have missed the whole “no hazing” part of the mandatory fraternity training. This year, it feels even more personal than usual. Polybotes, their president, was in the same writing class as Percy, freshman year. They’d been friendly for a little while, sharing notes and partnering together for discussions. Then they’d both rushed, and Polybotes had fallen into the hive mind of the Gammas, buying into their propaganda about being the best frat, the only one that wasn’t “soft.” 

He’d stopped talking to Percy in class completely, and then stopped responding to his texts about the classwork. It was whatever honestly, Percy wasn’t that invested in being friendly with a meathead who thought men shouldn’t cry and that any kind of emotion was weakness. Still, it was rough to see someone he used to smile at on the quad be outright rude to him at Greek council events. 

That, combined with the fact that it’s his and Jason’s last year, makes the whole frat want to try a little harder this year. It’s not a competition, but Kappa Sig is winning. 

They do end up going along with Leo’s idea of a wet t-shirt contest, albeit modified a little. It ends up as a car wash, set up in the little loop outside their house. Every brother who’s comfortable with it ends up with incredibly short cut off jean shorts, and a white Kappa Sig shirt tied high on their abs. Leo is loving it, hamming it up for the (mostly female) audience. Jason is beside him, not showing off on purpose but still commanding most people’s attention with his truly ridiculous body. 

Will is leading the people who are actually washing the cars, but still glowing golden in the sun. Nico is supposed to be helping him, but is actually more or less just staring at his ass. It’s probably fine. It seems like they’ve got it under control.

Percy set himself up at the entrance to collect people’s donations, with Frank next to him recording how much each individual contribution is. They’re a little more reasonably dressed, with the same white shirts but worn like normal, and dry enough that their entire chests aren’t visible. Privately, Percy thinks it’s better like this, to still enjoy the warmth of the late September sun before New York starts to freeze over, but also to be able to control exactly how much of himself is visible. Plus, he can watch Jason’s muscles twist in the sun as he waves people into the loop, leaning over to chat with each driver. 

Towards the end of the day, Piper and Annabeth pull up in Annabeth’s car, an elderly Jeep that’s been on its last legs since their freshman year. They stay in the car while Will and Travis wash it, but Annabeth still winks obnoxiously at Percy as he feels his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulls it out inconspicuously under the table and snorts a little at her “what, no magic mike from you :(“ text.

He texts back a quick “that’s not what that movie’s about” and stows his phone. Gotta set a good example for the youngins. 

Frank kicks him under the table, and he’s met with a disappointed look when he glances up. “Bro, if you’re flirting with your ex over text while you’re in the same place, that’s a fine.”

Frank’s fucking annoying, Percy has decided. “Shut up, dude,” he says, trying to roll his eyes as emphatically as he can. “You know she’s still my friend, that’s not a fine.”

“Yeah, but you’re too close to the situation, and Jason can’t be trusted to be fair when it’s about you. So therefore, as third in command, that’s my call to make and I call that if you’re flirting with Annabeth, it’s a fine.” It’s shitty reasoning, but Percy doesn’t feel like arguing so he just takes a swig of his beer and purposefully looks away from the boy next to him. 

Honestly, he forgets that they ever dated. It had been towards the middle of their freshman year, both of them too young to really distinguish the feeling of friendship from love. They’d fallen together because they needed the unconditional support, and the understanding that one can only get from another trans person.

They’d been good together, too. There was a reason they were still best friends. Still, they hadn’t fit as a couple and they’d both known it. She was always going to end up with someone too dignified to shotgun Natty Lites at 10am, and as much as he loved how smart she was, it was tough to feel like the deadweight in the relationship because he wasn’t as good with his words. 

They broke up in May, because he was going home to the city and she was driving the nine hours to her dad’s house in Virginia. Still, he felt lucky to call her his best friend now. 

He also liked watching her and Piper dance around each other, acting like they weren’t madly in love. They were suited for each other in a way that he and Annabeth had never been, matched like they were made for each other. It sounded fucking stupid, but when he looked at them he thought about the old myth, that each human had once had four arms and four legs, but Zeus split them in half, condemned them to search for their soulmates. If he knew anyone who made that myth make sense, it was the two of them. 

It was almost worse now that Annabeth was the Alpha Sig president, and Piper was the VP. They made an incredible team and made the sorority run smoother than it ever had before, (at least, if Silena is to be believed when she comes back for alumni events). It should be weird to watch his ex and her (?) something (?) finish each other’s sentences while wearing matching shirts and living in the same house, but all it does is fill him with warmth. They’d be good for each other, if they ever figure it out. He hopes they do.

(Privately, he hopes he and Jason look like this from the outside too. He wants someone to look at them, and think they’re each other’s better halves. He wants to be stared at like he hung the moon while he lectures about not juuling at the mixer, or whatever dumb shit his boys did this time).

He goes to class, eats lunch with Annabeth, and tutors what feels like every single humanities major in Kappa Sig. They’re all having trouble with the required American History class, and he was the TA for one of the sections last semester so he kind of feels obligated to help them. When he’s not doing that, he’s helping lead chapter meetings, sitting in on e-board meetings, or partying. It’s a lot, and he finds himself losing track of time, falling wholeheartedly into his routine and moving through it thoughtlessly.


	3. Chapter 3

Kappa Sig isn’t really known for their parties on campus. They tend to leave that to the Crows and the Pi Kapps, with their massive houses and thousand-dollar sound systems. It sounds like a line they feed to parents, but they actually do tend to focus on philanthropy. 

They drink of course, and smoke, most of them, but they don’t ever host. It’s a little bit of a scam, Percy thinks, that they get into any party on Frat Row that they want, drink other people’s booze and get to go back to their nice, clean, quiet house. 

He fucking loves it, loves to get wasted with random boys from his classes, scream along to whatever douchey shit Octavian from Crow claims is “actually kind of a bop, if you have taste,” and then stumble home with Jason and pass out, either seperately or in each other’s beds. 

He’s fucking soft for Jason at parties, (actually he’s fucking soft for Jason all the time, but parties is when it’s at it’s worst.) It’s where the capital-P President comes out, where Percy gets to watch him nurse one beer all night as he keeps an eye on every Kappa Sig visible, gets to watch him step in, calm and in control, if it looks like one of the boys is heading towards a fight or alcohol poisoning. 

Every once in a while, when Percy is dancing with some of the Alpha Sigs, or helping someone do a kegstand, he’ll feel a heavy gaze on the back of his neck. Maybe some people would feel like it was condescending, but Percy doesn’t really mind. Some tiny part of him relishes in that kind of care, of having someone actually mind what happens to him. 

It’s warm, is the best way he can describe it, having that kind of uncomplicated care turned on him. No matter what happens, if he’s going back to the Kappa Sig house at the end of the night he always gets Jason by his side, gently making sure that he doesn’t die trying to make it up to his room. 

Honestly, a guy falls down a flight of stairs one time.

(It’s nice, and Annabeth swears it’s not just bros, but Percy knows better, knows that the only reason he gets to glow with Jason Grace’s affection is because he gets kind of dumb when he’s drunk, and Jason’s a good leader who doesn’t want his death on his conscience.)

The biggest party of fall semester is always the Pi Kapps’ Halloween party, and there’s been a lot of chatter in the e-board group chat, about how the seniors, (Jason, Percy, and Frank), have to go all out for costumes this year. 

(Leo keeps pitching shit like sexy Scooby Doo and getting kicked out of the groupchat.)

Still, as much as they make fun of Leo, he does have a point about going all out this year, and there’s been a running list of ideas on the fridge since August. Some of them are clearly jokes, and have been crossed out emphatically. Some have been circled, or have tally marks next to them. Tentatively, they’re:

1- The Justice League  
2- Avengers  
3- Leading men from Nicholas Sparks movies  
4- A soccer team  
5- Peter Pan and the Lost Boys  
6- Each other

Some of them have potential, but none of them really stand out as big enough. It’s their last year, and as much as Percy doesn’t want to buy into the Hallmark movie-esque demand for the Perfect Last Year™, they don’t seem right to him. 

It’s a rainy Sunday in early October, when Will jerks his head up from where he’s resting, hungover, at the kitchen counter, and slaps at Percy’s shoulder. Percy, who is actively making eggs, slides out of the way with a practiced air he’s only gained in three years of living with exclusively college boys and their inherent need to hit each other to express any kind of emotion. His eggs slide dangerously towards the edge of the pan, and he scoops them back in with the house’s novelty Bills spatula. 

He’s had maybe half of his coffee, which makes him not at all awake enough for any kind of conversation. Will, who has had precisely none, doesn’t look much better off. Still, that doesn’t deter him from opening his mouth, and pitching the worst fucking idea Percy has ever heard. He almost doesn’t hear him the first time, and it takes another repetition for the full impact of Will’s words to sink in.

“Achilles and Patroclus” is the idea, which, admittedly, does sound really cool initially. Unfortunately, there’s several issues with that idea, which he wastes no time in sharing with Will. 

“They were super gay for each other, bud,” is what he tries first. “Like, they were In Love. I don’t think we can pull that off.” Will is looking at him in disbelief, but he ignores it and forges on. “Also, how are we going to pull together Greek armor that quickly? Or even a chiton or something?” 

“I mean-,” Will starts, but Percy is still talking. 

“That’s not even enough characters, we need something for Frank too. It would be kind of a dick move to just leave him without a group.” 

Jason walks into the kitchen, sweat and rainwater from his run mixing on his skin to create a light sheen. Jupiter is trotting happily at his side, damp, but wagging his tail enthusiastically. As Jason pulls up a seat at the island next to Will, the dog breaks from him and heads for his kibble.

Percy has stopped talking, hoping that Jason missed the beginning of the conversation and won’t be able to weigh in. His dream is quashed when Jason grabs Percy’s coffee from the counter in front of him, and holds it in one giant hand as he looks between the two of them. “What’s up, guys?” he greets them, taking a sip of the stolen drink. “What are we abandoning Frank for?”

Will is beaming at him, like he knows Jason will be super into the idea. “I was telling Percy that you guys should be Achilles and Patroclus for the Pi Kapp Halloween party. I think it would be sick.”

Percy hates that he can see Jason light up, a grin splitting his face like Will has just managed world peace instead of suggested a costume for a college party. They make eye contact, and he feels more than sees Jason glance over his body, like he’s already fitting him for the robes of a Greek hero. 

“Yeah, I’m into it,” is Jason’s response, and Percy fucking knows he’s lost. The worst part is that in the perfect world, Percy would love this costume. He’s fucking loved the Iliad ever since the first time he heard the story. His ADHD and dyslexia made it a bitch to read, but his mom used to tell it to him before bed, and when he got older he would listen to it through shitty audiobooks he pirated. 

When he realized he was bi, he listened to it again, and the story rang differently. Achilles loved Patroclus like nothing Percy had ever seen, ever felt. It burned in him, the desire to have someone who would fight for him like that, put him above all else. It had ever since.

The story of Achilles is one of the biggest reasons he’s even here, studying Greek History at some tiny school in western New York. It’s what got him interested in Greece in the first place. It’s so intensely personal to him, that he feels a little raw thinking about sharing it with other people. 

Still, Jason is his best friend, and maybe one of the only people who actually understands what it means to Percy. They’d talked about it their freshman year, when they were still in the awkward limbo between sort of hating each other, and being codependent. They’d both been drunk off their asses, and Percy had spent what felt like hours explaining it. 

He’d talked about growing up with a single mom, and how she was busy but always made time to read to him. How he associated the Iliad with her, and found himself through it, in the hero who was too young to be leading an army, and in his best friend who could care less about the war but wouldn’t leave him to face it alone. How it was what made him who he was, how it brought him to this shitty, crumbling porch attached to the house that was supposed to be his home for the next three years. 

Jason had listened, smiling at the important parts and never interrupting, like he could sense that this was the most vulnerable part of Percy, this story that he loved more than himself. When Percy was done, he’d leaned over and wrapped his arms around his shoulders for a second, and then pulled back and pressed a drunk, smacking kiss to his forehead. 

“That’s so fucking cool, dude,” was his response, with all the sincerity that a drunk seventeen-year-old could muster. 

The fact that Jason knows how much this means to Percy and is still willing to do it, still enthusiastic about it is kind of a lot. The fact that he isn’t afraid of the kind of commitment it implies makes heat rise in Percy’s cheeks. It’s overwhelming. 

Honestly, in a perfect world he wouldn’t be opposed to Jason being the other half of the costume. He trusts him, cares about him. If they were together, this would be a no-brainer. He’s mostly afraid of what it implies, now. He doesn’t want to be part of a joke, doesn’t want to lean into something he cares so much about if there’s a possibility that Jason thinks it’s just funny, just guys being dudes. 

He looks into Jason’s eyes now though, and doesn’t see that. Instead, he’s greeted with a hopeful look, and something else he can’t really place. When he shrugs, Jason tilts his head a little, considering. “Maybe Frank could be someone like Odysseus? I feel like he’d think it was cool. We could still have some kind of e-board solidarity.”

It doesn’t sound too bad, and Percy finds himself smiling at the idea. “Hazel could be Penelope.” She would like that, he thinks. Penelope is objectively pretty badass.

“Perfect,” Will says, sliding off his stool. “I’m gonna meet Nico for coffee, but if you guys want to talk through costumes or whatever I’m down.”

When he leaves, the kitchen feels silent despite the quiet music playing from Percy’s laptop in the corner. Jason is still there, still beautiful and still drinking out of Percy’s coffee cup like he doesn’t know where the coffee maker is. Like he doesn’t always bitch about how Percy puts too much milk in. Jupiter has settled at the edge of the island, head resting against the floor where he can see both Percy and Jason. Percy is still cooking his eggs, barefoot in a t shirt and boxers. 

It’s so fucking intimate that Percy almost wants to avert his eyes. He recovers by snatching his cup back out of Jason’s hands, chugging the rest of it. “What, can’t make your own?”

Jason grins at him, easy and bright. “Tastes better when you make it for me.” 

Percy resists the urge to stick his tongue out like a toddler, instead turning to refill his cup from the still-on coffee maker, where there is plenty of coffee, Jason. “The thing is, I didn’t make this for you. You know where the fucking cups are, bud.” 

His eggs are done, and he plates them quickly and puts them and his coffee on the island before pulling himself onto a stool, next to Jason. He doesn’t expect the hand on his shoulder, or the earnest look in Jason’s eyes when he speaks. “Are you sure you’re okay with it? I think it would be a really good costume, but I know how important they are to you. I don’t want to fuck with that.”

Percy sighs, with the most put-upon expression he can manage. “I guess I can deign to dress up as my favorite characters ever with my best friend. Like, I’ll get over it, you know.” He purposefully checks Jason out, letting his eyes linger on his long legs, the sliver of his stomach that’s visible at the hem of his shirt, and his massive arms. “I don’t know if you’re hot enough to be Achilles though-,” and he’s cut off by a headlock, Jason trying his very best to put his sweaty armpit in Percy’s face while keeping him immobile. 

They wrestle for a minute before they break apart, panting. Jupiter is grinning at them from the floor, jaws open a little bit and his massive tongue hanging out as he watches, like they’re doing it for his entertainment. 

Maybe it’ll be okay. 

Frank, predictably, is into the idea. He fits the character too, even if Percy wants to laugh at comparing the idea of the Trojan war to frat events. Frank is always the brains behind the operation, in some form. When people meet him, they think he’s boring, unemotional and unattached. It takes a while for him to be comfortable joking around with people, but when he does, he’s funny and kind and gives advice that should seem obvious. 

It takes the rest of October for them to get the costumes together. None of them are gifted in sewing, but it also feels like a cop-out to just buy Party City outfits, so they put in the time, and by the night of the party they each have something that’s, at the very least, not embarrassing. 

Hazel comes over to get ready with them, and by the time they’re all ready, it’s already almost 11. Leo insists on taking a photo of the four of them standing on the Kappa Sig porch, looking for all the world like it’s the first day of school. They’ve all been pregaming, and they’re tipsy enough that no one argues as Leo drags them around the porch, rearranging them until he’s satisfied. They end up standing in a row, with Hazel all the way on the left, tucked under Frank’s arm. The two of them are beaming at each other, a little sickeningly, but sweet. 

Jason is to Frank’s right, one arm draped over his shoulders and the other curling around Percy’s waist, pulling him tight. Percy lets his left hand rest on his back, holding Jason’s fake spear with the other. 

When they’re done with that picture, Leo insists on doing a “couple’s photoshoot,” one for each of them. Hazel stands in front of Frank and he wraps his arms around her waist in a way that should be juvenile, like a prom photo, but actually just drives home the married couple portion of their costume. He dwarfs her a little, but they look like equals, like she’s his match in every way. 

For theirs, they start by standing next to each other in the most No Homo posture that they can muster. Jason has reclaimed his spear, and holds it over his shoulders in a way that should make him look like a douchebag, but just emphasizes the muscle in his arms, and makes him look even bigger than he already is. Percy plants his feet, and folds his arms across his chest, trying as hard as he can to project a royal energy.

Leo isn’t satisfied with those, and insists that they “pose like they like each other,” so they end up pressed into each other’s sides, with Jason turning his head to plant a kiss on Percy’s cheek. He wills his blush to go down as Leo takes several different angles, and tries to ignore the fact that he can still feel Jason’s lips on his skin as they pull apart. 

Leo, dressed as Bob the Builder and looking disturbingly sexy for a children’s character, scrolls through them quickly, and grins up towards his friends. “They look great! I’ll text ‘em now.” With that, he’s heading back inside to muster the rest of the boys who live in the house and had not accompanied them outside to watch the photoshoot. 

Percy pulls his phone out to look, and Jason crowds over his shoulder to scroll through them, ignoring the fact that he also has them on his own phone. The group shots are great, and Percy saves a few to text to his mom. When they get to the couple ones, they skip over the ones of Hazel and Frank, and immediately pause on the first one of them. 

Jason is kissing Percy’s cheek, but in the first one he’s really just smiling against it, his face pressed close to Percy’s. His hands are huge, wrapped around Percy’s waist in a way that looks almost proprietary. Percy is grinning at the camera, one hand tucked behind Jason’s back, but the other held over his heart, spread over the fabric of his chiton. 

They look even more married than Hazel and Frank. They look like they’ve been together for years, like there isn’t a clear line where Percy stops and Jason starts. It makes his chest hurt a little bit, and he swipes out of it quickly, locking his phone and tucking it into the workout shorts under his chiton. That picture is not going to Sally Jackson.

When all the guys are out, they start to head to Pi Kapp, jostling each other as they walk. Will appears at Percy’s elbow with a shit-eating grin on his face, and Percy has to resist the urge to shove him away. He’s never sure how much Will actually picks up on other people’s feelings, but he’s always had a little bit of a suspicion that the guy reads minds. 

“I don’t know, I think y’all are pulling off the ‘In Love’ part of the story pretty well,” he says, and Percy can hear the emphasis in his voice, clearly trying to mirror how Percy had sounded when he tried to shoot the idea down. 

Nico’s head pops out from Will’s other side, their hands tangled together. “I, personally, would assume that you were together if I didn’t know better. That might be the couple’s costume though. I dunno.”

Percy glances over at where Jason is talking enthusiastically with some of the younger boys, and tries to pitch his voice low enough that he won’t be overheard. “It’s just the costumes guys- you know it’s not like that.” It sounds hollow even to him, and Will rolls his eyes before giving up and turning back to his boyfriend. 

Everything gets a little blurry from there. Earlier in the week some of the guys from Kappa Sig had been enlisted to help pick up booze, and the two frats had split the cost, so Percy doesn’t feel guilty about pouring himself a generous helping of whatever jungle juice Dakota whipped up this time. 

He knows he pulls Jason into dancing with him, moves their hips together as best he can. He and Jason are both pretty shitty, but it’s still a blast to throw themselves into it. He’s not trying to hook up anyway, he can afford to look like an idiot.

(After almost any party, Frank will corner Percy to mock him for allegedly only having one dance move. It’s merciless, and unrelenting. He can already see how his dancing is going to be mimicked in the kitchen tomorrow.) 

At some point, some of the Alpha Sig girls arrive, and he can see Piper waving to him from across the packed basement. Unfortunately, the basement is so full that he can’t pull himself out of the crowd and settles for grinning at her from across the room as Jason leans down to whisper a running commentary about the costumes around them into his ear.

He’s fucking hilarious without even trying to be, muttering shit about how Octavian “can’t possibly think that it was a good idea to wear that, it must have been a bet, dude,” and how Dakota “is definitely just wearing his bedsheets as a toga, what’s with that?”

He’s drinking more than usual, Percy notices. He’s seen Jason trashed plenty of times, when they have movie night, or small Kappa Sig only parties, but he usually doesn’t drink more than a few beers if there’s going to be a bunch of people he doesn’t know. Tonight, he’s on at least his second cup of jungle juice, and that’s on top of the shots of tequila they’d all done while getting ready. It makes him loose enough to talk close to Percy, his breath warm against Percy’s cheek, and to grind their hips together a little more than he might otherwise. 

They dance for a while, and it’s a lot, Jason’s big hands moving on Percy’s sides as the crowd pushes them together. He’s grateful when Annabeth’s hand snakes through the crowd and grabs at the strap of his chiton. There’s definitely amusement in her eyes as she takes in the scene, but she must have understood his attempts to will her into not mentioning it. “Hey, if you guys want to join the rest of the party, we’re trying to get a pic of all the presidents and VPs that are here.”

They extract themselves from the crowd, both of them drunk enough to keep holding each other’s hands long after they need it to get out of the crush of bodies. They’re met by Piper, talking to Dakota and his VP, some junior Percy doesn’t know. The Crows are there too, and Percy daps them up on autopilot, his best networking smile plastered on his face. Jason leans in, lips brushing Percy’s ear again as he giggles a little bit and whispers, “Dude, do you even remember their names?

Percy doesn’t, but that’s not important right now.

They all press together for the photo, careful to hide any blatant evidence of drinking in case it ends up on anyone’s official social media. One of the Crow pledges takes it, seeming a little like he’s afraid of having that much responsibility.

When it’s over and Percy has already started to walk back towards the crowd, Dakota pulls Jason to the side to discuss something. He starts to turn back to wait, but Piper is grabbing his arm and pulling him towards where the bar is set up. His plan must have been clear on his face, because Piper laughs at him. “He’ll still be there later. You live together, you can hang out with me for a few minutes.” 

He does love drunk Piper, so he lets himself be dragged along. They end up towards the wall, with Annabeth and some of her friends from one of her classes. He forgets which class right away, but they’re nice and he falls into an enthusiastic conversation about their school’s swim team. He hadn’t tried out, too focused on his academics and working, but apparently Annabeth’s friend Mark is on it, and Percy misses swimming and is always happy to talk about it. 

The guy is dressed as a superhero, and seems excited to have a chance to explain it, so Percy asks him questions politely, lets him describe which incarnation of Robin he is, and why he chose that one. Mark eventually talks himself out, and takes a swig of beer to catch his breath before he blatantly checks Percy out, eyes sliding up and down his body for what feels like forever. 

“So, clearly your costume is Greek or Roman, right? Can I guess?” It’s kind of a line, at least feels like it’s gonna become one, but Percy’s never been one to mind being hit on, so he nods and the guy grins. He looks at Percy’s outfit again, gaze flickering over the sandals on his feet (it felt unsafe to go to a frat party barefoot, even if it would have been more historically accurate), to the clumsily made chiton. “Greek,” he tries, and Percy nods again.

“God or hero?” is his next question, and Percy’s a little impressed. Most people don’t seem to have the kind of encyclopedic knowledge of Greek mythology that he does, so he didn’t expect anyone to even try and guess the costume.

“Hero.”

“Perseus,” the guy tries with a wink, laughing at the expression on Percy’s face. “That was a shitty joke, sorry.” Percy grins, despite himself. Mark is sweet enough. He’d definitely be Percy’s type, if he was in the mood for it.

“Do you want another hint?” As much as most people know the name Achilles, there’s too many Greek myths to expect this guy to get to the Trojan war anytime soon.

Mark sighs, faking a put-upon expression. “Ye of little faith. Hit me.” 

“It’s Homeric.”

Mark puts his hand on his chin, dramatically pretending to think. After a minute, he seems like he’s come to a decision, and puts his half empty beer on the table so he can count off on his hands. 

“Pro or anti Stockholm syndrome?” he asks, tapping his left thumb with his other hand. 

“Anti.”

“King or not a king?” is his left pointer finger.

“Not.”

“Frontline fighter or strategy?” is the middle finger.

“Neither.” Technically, unless you count his death (when he was both.)

“Did he want to be there?” is the ring finger.

“No, but he had an oath.”

“Was he the favorite of a god?” is the pinky, and Percy’s impressed again. It’s a smart fucking question, one that he’s not even sure he would have thought of. 

“No.”

Percy can see the wheels spinning in Mark’s head as he taps each finger again, thinking it through. He’s not coming up with anything, and when they make eye contact again his expression is sheepish, like he feels like he should have gotten it by now. “Can I try one more question? It’s kind of a cop-out.”

Percy likes that this guy is putting that much thought into it. He seems like he genuinely wants to be having this conversation, wants to be involved for more than just the sake of maybe getting into Percy’s pants. “Shoot.”

“What were his people called? Like, from his country in Greece.”

“Oh man,” Percy laughs. “That’s even more of a cop-out than I thought.” He weighs his options briefly, decides it couldn’t hurt to make the flirting less one-sided, at least for the sake of entertainment. “Lucky you’re cute. He was a Myrmidon.”

Mark lights up, and snaps his fingers once. “Achilles!”

He’s so enthusiastic that Percy almost says yes, just to let him have this, but something in his face must give it away because Mark furrows his eyebrows and lowers his hand, glancing over Percy’s costume one more time. 

“No. Achilles was blond, I’m pretty sure. Also, I feel like he was bigger, you know? Not that you’re not hot as fuck, but I think he was supposed to be like, super intimidating.”

Like clockwork, Percy feels an arm slide around his waist, and he’s pulled against Jason’s side. The sides of his outfit are much more open than Percy’s and he can practically feel Jason’s heartbeat against his ribs. He’s warm to the touch and a little sweaty, but it’s still a comfortable hug and Percy relaxes into it a little more than he would if he was sober. 

“Talking about me?” Jason asks, grinning, and that’s the magic of Jason Grace, that he can say things that other guys would sound douchey as hell saying and make them sound cool instead of just obnoxious. 

Mark swallows visibly, clearly taking in the several inches of height that Jason has on him. He’s stepped back from Percy as well, and his body language is much more platonic, leaning back a little, and putting his hands at his sides. Percy takes pity on him, and smiles. “I’m Patroclus, actually. He’s Achilles.” 

They must make quite the picture. They’re both pretty touchy sober, but Drunk Jason is a whole other animal, will latch onto anyone near him like if he doesn’t hold someone, he’ll die. Percy is his favorite target, when he gets like this. Jason pretends he has no idea it happens. Add that to the couple’s costume, and the familiar way Jason had pulled him in, like he belonged pressed up against his side, he kind of gets why Mark might feel bad about flirting with him, even as innocently as he had been.

“You guys look good,” Mark manages. “It’s a cool costume.” They make pretty awkward small talk for a minute, all the steam gone out of the conversation. Eventually, Mark makes some excuse about his roommate needing him and leaves as fast as he can without being rude. 

Percy turns on Jason so their chests are almost pressed together, pulling the other boy’s arm off of his waist. “Dude, what if I was wheeling him? Not a bro move.”

“Were you?”

“I mean, no. But I could have been!”

“He wasn’t good enough for you anyway. What kind of idiot can’t pick out a Patroclus costume from a mile away? Plus, your till-death-do-us-part life partner is right here anyway,” he says, gesturing down at himself. “What do you need him for?”

Percy rolls his eyes, lets Jason get his hands back on his hips. “I don’t know, are you gonna be my embarrassing drunken fall semester hook up? I gotta be messy one time this semester or I’ll lose my reputation, and I’m running out of parties.”

He regrets it almost immediately as Jason’s eyes narrow briefly, before flickering over his body and back to his face. The hands on him tighten a little, and Jason’s voice is deeper when he speaks again. “Do you want me to be?”

The whole fucking party has gone silent, probably. It’s just Jason’s breathing and Percy’s pulse pounding under his jaw. The alcohol has made the rest of the world blurry, and Jason’s face stand out in high definition under the flashing LED lights. 

Percy is so fucking hot suddenly, warm from the alcohol and the attention. He wants to scream, he wants it to be winter already so he can throw himself in a fucking snow bank until he calms down. He really wants to kiss Jason, and that’s the one that feels the most feasible, so he tilts his head up a little, bares his throat and lets his eyes flutter a little bit. 

“I don’t know, big guy. You up for it?”

He might imagine the growl that Jason lets out, but he definitely doesn’t imagine how fast Jason pushes him up against the wall behind the bar and boxes him in with his body.  
Unsurprisingly, Jason is a good kisser. He approaches it like he approaches everything else, takes the lead and pours his whole focus into what he’s doing. He’s taking his time, every movement careful and controlled. Percy would make out with him for hours.

Jason pulls away after a second, lets Percy catch his breath against the wall. “It felt wrong, watching him hit on you. We’re matching tonight, couldn’t let someone else take care of what was mine.”

It feels rude to roll his eyes at someone who’s tongue has just been in his mouth, but Percy does it anyway. “That’s fucking possessive, babe. We didn’t go into tonight like that.” It’s really hot, too, but he’s not gonna mention that.

“I know.”

“Can’t do that, if we don’t talk about it.”

“I know.” 

“Not yours,” he says, but it’s hard to be convincing when he’s barely standing under his own power at the moment. It’s really hard to be convincing when Jason’s knee has somehow made it between his legs, making it so that he couldn’t move even if he wanted to. 

“Could be,” Jason says, more serious than Percy has ever seen him. “Come on, baby.” He tries to hide his shiver, hopes Jason is drunk enough to not feel how strongly that affected him. He’s probably successful, or Jason doesn’t deem it important enough to talk about at the moment, because he leans back in, presses their lips together again. 

At some point, Piper separates them, dumps them into the care of Will and Nico with instructions to get them home safely, to their own beds. 

The boys must be successful, because Percy wakes up in his room, alone, staring at the framed photo of his family on the nightstand. His head is pounding, and the Paul Blofis in the photo is staring at him like he knows Percy had his best friend’s tongue in his mouth for half an hour last night in front of most of their campus’ greek life. 

He remembers most of the party, but it’s still a little hard to believe that it happened. He’s known Jason was bi for about as long as they’ve known each other, but it had always been kind of an afterthought. He’s trained himself to remember that just because someone likes guys it doesn’t mean they like him, and Jason had been his biggest test of that. 

Even when their friendly mocking had verged toward flirting, Percy had just assumed it was because Jason was nice enough to be like that with everyone. When they were cuddling because they were drunk, he assumed he was just a warm body, that Frank could just have easily been in his place if he was next to Jason instead. He’s tried so hard to keep any feelings he had towards Jason locked away, because he doesn’t want to wreck their friendship, or their frat. Both things are far too important to Percy to risk it, but if Jason felt the same-

He can’t think about it yet, can’t get his hopes up before they can talk.

He’s been stripped to just the athletic shorts he wore under his costume, whether by Nico and Will or himself, he’s not sure. He manages, somehow, to drag himself out of bed and to his laundry basket to fish for clothes that don’t smell. He comes up with old Goode High School sweatpants (that might actually be Paul’s), and a shirt from some philanthropy event years ago. 

Luckily, both his phone and his wallet have ended up on the nightstand, and he slides them into his pockets as he leaves his room, gently shutting the door behind him so he won’t wake up anyone else still sleeping. When he makes it to the first floor he glances around but no one else seems to have made their way out of their rooms yet, so he heads for the front door. He’s reaching for the handle when he hears a soft woof from behind him. 

On the sofa, Jason is passed the fuck out, a blanket covering him from approximately ankle to shoulders. His hair is incredibly mussed, and from what Percy can see, he’s still wearing his costume from last night, including the circlet they’d made for him. One arm is thrown over his eyes, and Jupiter is laying on him, taking up most of his legs. The golden retriever is staring at Percy with big brown eyes, tail wagging gently. When Percy reaches for the door handle again, he’s met with the same woof, the same expectant look. 

He’s good with dogs, usually, but it still takes him a minute to figure out what Jupiter wants. When he does, it should have been obvious from the beginning. It’s about ten in the morning, and the dog likely hasn’t been outside since they left last night. He’s an emotional support dog, so he’s probably trained to let Jason sleep if he’s that out of it, which means he’s been sitting here all morning, waiting for someone to take him out. 

He grabs the pen and paper from the kitchen table, scrawls his best approximation of “took ur dog. back soon -percy” on it and puts it on top of where Jason’s glasses rest on the floor. Jupiter’s leash is hanging on a coat hook by the door, so he grabs it and gestures to the dog. He swears he can see him figure out the safest way down before he gently stands and picks his way over Jason’s legs, jumps to the ground, and trots over with his tail wagging. 

They leave and Jupiter sprints towards their lawn to do his business. He’s a good dog though, and as soon as he’s done he heels at Percy’s side, content to follow along with wherever they’re going.

It’s probably too cold to be out in just a t-shirt, but the air feels good on his skin, and as they walk his headache starts to fade little by little. They leave Frat Row and turn left, heading sort of vaguely off campus and into town. Jupiter stops a few times, to sniff at invisible spots on the sidewalk or to make friends with people clearly doing the walk of shame from the Pi Kapp party. 

Some of them stop and talk with Percy, and he tries his best to be friendly, chats with them about their costumes, or how it compared to the party last year. He likes to talk normally, but Drunk Percy is a whole different beast, and apparently he introduced himself to the majority of the party last night. 

Eventually, they make it to the Tim Hortons and Percy dips in, leaving Jupiter tied to a chair outside as he places his order. The workers know him there, and they let him head back out to hang with Jason’s dog until his order is ready. Without thinking about it, he had ordered for him and Jason, gotten both their usual coffees and the disgusting breakfast sandwich that Jason is so fond of. Hopefully Jason doesn’t wake up hating him, or this coffee delivery will be really awkward. 

They give him one of the cardboard cup holder things, with the two iced coffees balanced in it. He secures Jupiter’s leash around his left hand and hefts the bag of food into his right before grabbing the drinks, and they begin their significantly more precarious return journey. 

He’s saved from having to navigate opening the door by Leo, who swings it open as they approach and greets them with an altogether too cheery, “Good morning, Vietnam!” Percy winces, but slips through the door. Jason is no longer on the sofa, his blanket crumpled where he had been lying when they left. There’s no sign of him though, and Percy takes a second to breathe before he puts the coffee and food down and unhooks Jupiter. 

Jupiter goes upstairs as soon as he’s freed, likely in search of his master. Percy recollects the food, carries it into the kitchen and piles himself into one of the stools by the island. Will and Nico are there, Will watching as Nico cooks something on the stove, wearing a shirt that’s way too colorful and a little too big to be his own. They both turn to look at Percy as he joins them, and he groans at the twin looks on their faces. If anyone knows what happened last night, it’s them, and he’s not interested in hearing what they have to say about it. 

They stay silent as he pulls his own food out of the bag and sets Jason’s sandwich and coffee aside, in front of the last empty stool at the island. He’s a few bites into his sandwich, coffee in front of him, when Will finally cracks. 

“So, any idea why Piper told us that you guys needed to sleep in different beds? No one’s ever had to specify that before, for y’all at least.” Percy hates him, hates Piper and hates himself from last night. 

“Is there something that we don’t know about?” Nico adds, before glancing up to actually look at Percy. “Is there something that you want us to know about?”

Nico is a good guy, trustworthy and kind even if he tries to hide it by bitching at everyone and never wearing colors. Percy’s never really understood him, beyond a mutual understanding that they have each other’s backs, and knowing that he’s Jason’s best friend (other than Percy). He’s never gotten that, either, how someone as bright and social and extroverted as Jason had ended up so close to a guy who’s as introverted as it gets, and doesn’t really seem to like most people. 

Still, they’re close as fuck and he doesn’t want to risk any of his panic getting reported back, so he bites his tongue. He can feel himself getting redder, and he doesn’t want to do this now, while he’s still a little high on adrenaline, just from knowing that Jason is awake and one step closer to them needing to talk. They rarely have secrets, at least between the guys in Percy’s pledge class and the guys in Will and Nico’s, so he hopes that it’s actually impressed on them how serious he is about not spilling his guts right now. 

Nico gets it, he thinks, because his face morphs from a shit-eating grin into something a little more gentle, and he nods, once. “Okay. You’ll tell us if you want to talk about it?”

Percy fucking loves Nico. 

By the time he’s finished his sandwich, they’re back to gossiping about the Gammas who had deigned to come to the party, despite being the only frat that’s been actively banned from other frat’s parties. Some of them seem nicer than others, and apparently Nico had had a pretty engaging conversation with one of them, before the guy puked on his shoe. 

Still, he’s a little on edge, and he tenses up when he hears Jupiter’s collar jingling down the stairs, accompanied by heavy footsteps. Nico and Will pick up on the change in mood, and Will rubs Percy’s shoulder once in support before Jason and his dog turn the corner into the kitchen.

They’re facing away from the door, so Nico is the first to see him, and he greets their esteemed president with a very eloquent, “Christ. You look like shit, dude.” Percy turns to look at him, and is forced to agree. His hair is wrecked, and his glasses do absolutely nothing to disguise the massive bags under his eyes. He’s managed to get out of his costume, but hasn’t bothered to put real clothes on, so he’s left in loose boxers and a shirt from what Percy thinks is the fancy prep school he went to in California. His eyes are barely focusing, and he’s wearing one fucking sock. It’s an incredibly soft look.

Jason flips Nico off, but it’s not very effective paired with his yawn, effectively sustained until he sits down in the open spot next to Percy, eyes landing on the Tim Hortons bag in front of him. He gasps a little, much more full of wonder than the sandwich itself deserves. His voice is wrecked when he opens his mouth, but he still manages a “For me?”

“Yeah, bud,” Percy says, trying his best to suppress a smile. Bros shouldn’t mock other bros for being hungover. 

“Fucking love you, dude,” is maybe a little too dramatic for someone who got you a two dollar sandwich and is also your best friend that you made out with last night, but it’s what Jason goes with, voice catching a little on the ‘dude.’

Will picks up on the tension and draws them back into conversation about the Gammas, and how technically Leo’s girlfriend’s brother is a legacy and how it might make things more complicated with the rivalry. Percy, who wasn’t aware that Leo had a girlfriend, is grateful for the distraction. He lets himself glance at Jason, who’s sipping at his slightly melted iced coffee and staring at Will as he gesticulates his way through a story about how the Gammas hated Leo even more after the party. 

Jason looks calm, more so than Percy feels. He’s barely looked over except to thank him for the coffee, and it makes the anxiety and adrenaline build even higher in his chest. Does Jason not want to talk about it? Does he even remember?

He hadn’t thought Jason was even close to being gone, but if he was blacked and Percy had kissed him anyway- he’s a shitty person. He’d initiated it, but Percy still should have picked up on how drunk he was, should have done something different. 

He can’t pay attention to Will right now, has to figure out where to go from here. He’d been drunk too, but Percy drinks more than Jason, is used to how it hits him. He should have been more responsible, shouldn’t have taken advantage of his best friend. If he can’t tell when Jason is drunk enough to make out with people he doesn’t have feelings for, are they even friends? Does Percy even deserve to be friends with him, after this?

He makes his excuses, somehow, and his voice is high in his own ears, the way that it always is when he’s upset even though he’s been on testosterone for years. He sees Jason pick up on it too, sees the concern in his eyes as he turns to watch Percy stand, and it makes him feel even worse. If Jason can tell he’s upset from two words, without even looking at him, he deserves so much better than whatever Percy did last night.

There’s about 20 unread texts from Annabeth when he opens his phone, and he ignores them all to type out a quick, “can I come over? want to go over whatever happened at pi kapp.” He’s already on his way to the Alpha Sig house by the time she responds, but it’s a yes so he taps the door gently when he gets there, and slides in when Piper opens it. 

She’s clearly just woken up, but she’s still awake enough to take in the state of him and look at him in concern before Annabeth appears from the living room. She starts to come in for a hug, but he dips out of it, collapses on one of their giant sofas in the least pathetic way he can manage.

She follows him in, and knows him well enough to sit next to him, pull his head into her lap and stroke his hair back from his face, so gently he can barely feel it. He just lays there for a second, tries his best to breathe. 

“Annabeth, I don’t know if he remembers.”

***

He avoids Jason for the rest of Halloweekend, too scared to bring it up. If Jason remembers, he hasn’t brought it up which only spells bad things for their relationship. If he doesn’t, Percy doesn’t know if he should tell him about it, doesn’t know if this is a what-he-doesn’t-know-won’t-hurt-him situation or not. 

They’re well into November when things start to feel normal again. Jason has been normal the whole time, a solid, welcoming presence in the house. They hang out about as much as they usually do, and Percy tries his best to pretend he doesn’t know what it feels like to be pinned against the wall by his president. Normal bro stuff. 

It’s almost Thanksgiving when he lets himself relax into it again, goes to smoke sessions and study dates without fear sitting heavy in his gut every time he looks at the boy to his left. He hasn’t mentioned it to anyone but Piper since the first morning, and no one else has even tried to bring it up.

It’s already painfully cold, but in the New York way where it’s still sunny enough some days to trick you into going outside without a jacket, makes you too stubborn to admit that you’re cold if you’ve already left the house. It’s his favorite time of year, even though he pretends to gripe about it as much as the west coast and southern boys do. It’s quiet, and the brightness of the sun against the snow is blinding, lights him up inside in a way he’s always loved. 

Privately, he also loves the way that winter makes Jason needy, makes him come up behind whoever’s in the kitchen and hug them for a second, just long enough to leech their body heat. He pretends he isn’t doing it, but he’s also been known to make sure he’s the first on the sofa for movie night, so someone will sit in his lap, or press themselves against him lengthwise. Jupiter is, at best, an enabler, and follows his master around the house, leaning against whatever unfortunate soul has been trapped to warm Jason up. 

More than ever this year, it’s been Percy, pulled into Jason’s lap or against his side if they’re both standing. Jason insists it’s because Percy’s a New York native, like winter in the city somehow made his blood thick enough to withstand lake effect snow. 

He’s kind of a gremlin when it comes to winter, honestly. He takes people’s sweatshirts if he thinks they won’t notice, tries to pass it off as being “because your clothes are more used to this weather! Obviously!” Percy has lost more than one sweatshirt to Jason deciding that his room is too far to get a layer, and dipping into Percy’s instead.

It’s always confused him, how Jason manages to pass himself off to the general public as some kind of quiet, honorable leadership type. He knows people think Jason is too serious to be a frat boy, assume he’s just in it for the bullet point on his resume. 

They don’t see how fucking annoying he is.

(Some horrible little part of Percy loves that he’s one of the only ones who gets to see it, like it’s just for him.)

Anyway. They make it to Thanksgiving, and manage to wrangle together a pretty passable meal. As much as Nico complains, he loves to show off his cooking skills and pulls off an incredibly impressive, if non-traditional meal. Will makes sure every one of the boys gets the invitation, enforces attendance unless someone is going home for the holiday. 

It’s a bitch to set up, the kitchen table absolutely not made to be extended enough to fit twenty guys, but they make it work. The table came with wings to extend it, and they set up one of their pong tables at one end, which is a disgusting solution, but seems to work. 

The place settings are haphazard at best, with silverware scrounged from people’s dorms to fill out the house’s meager collection. Leo gleefully sets the table, putting down a home-made place card at every setting. 

There’s wine, because this is a formal occasion, but it’s shitty Wegman’s boxed wine, because none of them can tell the difference. Jason insists on being in charge of dessert, and finally ends up roping Frank in to help him, which seems like a recipe for disaster. They refuse to report back, and Percy tries to make peace with the fact that he’ll pretend to like it no matter what it is, just to see Jason smile. 

He stays out of the planning, mostly. Planning isn’t his strong suit, never has been. His ADHD makes it worse, stresses him out if he doesn’t have a mental itinerary that divides the tasks up down to the minute. The guys know that though, and don’t try to force him to get involved. He’s resigned to Wegman’s runs, for ingredients and wine. (Piper actually picks out the wine, over Facetime, but she’s sworn to secrecy.)

Will sends out a text day-of, reminding everyone that it is a formal affair, and that the dress code will be enforced, which he definitely didn’t discuss with the rest of e-board, but they let it slide because of how thinly veiled an attempt it is to get Nico to wear a tie. 

Dinner is supposed to be at four, so everyone who lives in the house is up and about by noon, getting delegated last-minute tasks and fixing each other’s ties. (A surprising amount of the sophomores don’t know how to tie their ties, and Percy sets himself up at the bottom of the stairs, knotting them as boys walk down to the kitchen.) He’s in a light blue button down, darker blue tie still draped over his shoulders. 

Once everyone has reported, they start the pregame, less of an actual event and more Leo sticking his head in the fridge, and yelling “Hey, I think some of those pretentious hard ciders are still in here! Anyone?”

(They’re Percy’s, Ontario-brewed cider he snuck across the border last time he went to Toronto. The guys mock him, but they fucking slap.)

He’s a few drinks in by the time other guys start to trickle in from their dorms. Some of them brought sides that at a glance, look like family recipes inexpertly recreated in lounge microwaves. Malcolm even brought wine, despite being 19 and too baby-faced to pass with a fake. Percy decides not to think too hard about where he got it. 

They hang around and chat for a while, until Will and Nico appear in the doorway. “Dinner’s served, boys,” Will says with a smile, one arm wrapped around Nico’s waist. The other boy is wearing a bright pink ‘kiss the cook’ apron, a sharp contrast to his dark slacks and gray shirt, black tie disappearing under the apron. 

The table stretches from the kitchen into the living room, the mismatched pieces hidden under a long, slightly stained tablecloth. Each place has one of Leo’s name cards, and the guys mill around, waving people over to their respective seats. Jason is at the head of the table, tucked most of the way into the kitchen, and Percy is at the foot, facing him. 

Leo is looking between them, like he’s waiting for them to notice how he’s separated them. There’s a grin on his face, and it widens when he meets Percy’s eyes. “Get it?” he demands, “‘Cause you guys are mom and dad, so you have to be at the ends.”

Percy’s already lowering himself into the seat, but he feels himself flinch as Leo’s words process in his head. Apparently he’s tipsy enough to show his discomfort on his face, because Jason speaks up from the other end, voice low but somehow carrying across the table all the same. “I’m mom, obviously.”

He says it like a joke, but there’s still a firm tone in his voice, like he wants to make sure that everyone at the table who heard the joke will focus on this version, the one that doesn’t sound like Percy’s being misgendered in front of the whole of Kappa Sig. 

Percy forces humor into his voice, smiles at Jason in thanks. “Obviously.” Everyone else has settled into their seats by now, Will and Nico to his left and a Stoll on his right. Jason has Frank on one side and Leo on the other.

“Hey, everyone. First of all, happy bros-giving. Secondly, I’m gonna have us all go around and say something we’re thankful for in a second, but I do have a question before we get started. I know I’m Jewish, but some of you aren’t, and I just want to know, anything you wanna say, Grace?” He winks at Jason, hoping desperately that at least someone thinks his joke is funny. He’s been thinking about it for like a week.

That’s his biggest contribution to the dinner, honestly, and it’s worth it to see everyone look at him blankly for a second, before they start to put the words together. Nico snorts in a very un-gentlemanly way, and Jason glances upwards for strength before he lets himself grin a little, cheeks reddening as he tries his best to glare at Percy.

“Bro, I don’t even usually say it, but that’s such a weak joke I feel like I gotta make up for it with something,” He gets as far as “Bless us, oh Lord, for these-” before Leo slams a hand over his mouth. “Anyway, you want to start with the thanks?”

Percy puts his hands out, grabs the Stoll’s left hand and Will’s right, and pointedly glances around the table until everyone else does the same. He takes a second to look around at all of them, his best friends, his brothers, some of the people he loves the most in the world, all gathered around shitty tables in their tiny house, before he starts. 

“I’m grateful for all of you, for our health and the health of my parents. I’m grateful for my sister, and my dog, and the Pi Kapp basement.”


	4. Chapter 4

Finals week always fucking sucks, but it’s worse this year. Before, if he failed a class he could take it again over the summer, try to circumnavigate the system to get the credit he needed. Now, if he fails he won’t walk, and that’s terrifying. He’s already worked himself into several near anxiety attacks, trying to make sure he knows everything there is to know about HIST 440: Women in the Medieval World, one of the last history credits he needs. 

It’s supposed to be a blow-off senior elective, but it’s interesting and he likes the professor enough to actually stress about how he’s doing, which is a fat L on his part. He has a paper due for it, as well as an in-class exam. 

By Thursday, he’s turned everything in except two papers, one about peace in the Balkans and the one for HIST 440. He’d hoped that saving the classes he actually needs for his major til the end of the week would somehow make him more motivated to write them, but it’s still not turning out so well.

The kitchen is a war zone, people clustered everywhere with books spread out over the island, the kitchen table and the pong table. The living room isn’t much better, with their shitty coffee table and another folding table produced from somewhere completely overtaken with laptops. He’s positioned at one end of the island, desperately trying to ignore everyone else as he grinds away at the paper for the Balkans class. 

He has a massive coffee next to him that Annabeth dropped off in the morning, announcing her presence by squeezing his arm and kissing his cheek, leaving before he could say anything but a quick “thank you.” Most of the ice is melted by now, and it’s leaving a ring on the island but he can’t bring himself to care. 

Jason is on his left, hunched over some kind of blueprint for a city, Percy’s pretty sure. For hours he’s been scribbling notes all over it, drawing additional supports on the bridge and writing things like “wrong. ask dr. smith if i can change.” all over it. He’s been wearing the same clothes for days now, gray sweatpants that are too short on his ankles but nondescript enough that he could have accidentally taken them from anyone else who lives in the house, and a LA Kings crewneck sweatshirt, the neck stretched out of shape from too much wear and not enough washes. His glasses keep sliding down his nose, and he’s given up on pushing them back up, instead just tilting his head so he can still see his paper through them.

They make kind of a pathetic pair. 

If he doesn’t get out of this house soon, Percy thinks he’ll probably die, either from the sheer desperation radiating off of every single person in the room, or of frustration from trying to force what he writes to make sense, so he leans over and lets his forehead rest on Jason’s shoulder. 

“Dude. Bro. Come get lunch with me.”

It’s four in the afternoon.

“It’s four in the afternoon,” Jason helpfully points out, not looking up from his notes. It looks like he might straight up be drawing a sad face on his paper at this point. 

“It’s finals week, time isn’t real and I’m starving. What kind of bro would you be if you let me starve, right here in front of you. Only you can prevent my inevitable death from lack of nutrients.”

The shoulder under his forehead goes up, once, as Jason takes a deep breath, like he’s steeling himself to rejoin the real world. “Fine, let’s go.”

He still has a bit of a tone, but Percy tries not to take it to heart. They both get like this around finals, snippy and a little bit meaner than usual. His hit him yesterday, and he called Frank a “piece of shit Canadian” for offering to proofread one of his essays. At the time, it had seemed like a mortal insult directed at his ADHD or his dyslexia. He has not yet apologized, but he will. Frank didn’t deserve it.

They head towards the closest cafe, in silence but right next to each other, hands brushing as they walk. Jupiter is keeping pace, tongue lolling out like he’s just excited to be along for the trip. Percy pulls his juul from his pocket and hits it as inconspicuously as he can, but Jason still turns his head at the crackle, does a little close-mouthed, defeated smile.

“Shouldn’t do that, babe. It’s not good for you.”

They’ve had this conversation a thousand times since freshman year, Jason trying to talk him out of it and Percy obliging him, for a while, up until the next time he got so stressed he couldn’t breathe and the hit of the vape felt like it cleared his lungs somehow, instead of wrecking them. He only does it during midterms and finals now, which he thinks is a good enough compromise. 

He asked, once, if Jason would prefer if he didn’t smoke around him, but he’d just looked sad, and admitted that it’s almost comforting to at least know when Percy is smoking, so he can try to keep an eye on him.

“I know. It’s just finals.”

“It’s always finals though, Perce. Or midterms, or whatever. If you keep dragging it out, you’re never gonna stop for real.”

He’s right, obviously. 

It’s fine.

“What’s this project you’ve been looking at?” It’s so transparently a subject change, but Jason always likes to talk through his projects before he turns them in, so it really kills two birds with one stone. Percy’s just being a good friend.

Jason lets him. “It’s really cool, actually, if I can figure it out. We’re supposed to redesign Rome, sort of. We each have a layout for about a block of the city, and we have to change it around, improve where we can.”

“Feels kind of cocky, yeah? Redesigning the heart of one of the greatest empires in history?”

“Maybe,” and Jason looks relaxed for the first time in days, like he’s taken off a little of the weight on his shoulders, at least for the time it takes them to get lunch. Dinner. Whatever. 

That’s the last Percy sees of him, until Saturday. He resigns himself to studying in the library, where he can leave his phone at the house and stay in one study room for hours until he bangs out his papers without the distractions of the boys all around him. He sits for his exam on Friday, and feels okay enough about it that he doesn’t have any qualms about burrowing into his room Friday night, with a six-pack of beer and reruns of the Good Place. He deserves it.

He wakes up Saturday, not quite hungover but also not quite sober-feeling yet, a little too warm in his bed. He usually sleeps with the windows cracked, even in upstate winter, because he likes the breeze, but that ends more often than not in him burrowed under his covers, not sweating, half his body uncovered. It takes him a minute to find the source of the extra heat, the extra body pressed tight against his, one arm draped over his chest. 

Jason has somehow managed to bury his face into Percy’s pillow at the same time, upper body contorted in a way that can’t possibly be comfortable, especially given his height. He’s snoring a little, in the way he only does when he falls asleep exhausted, or high, or both. There’s a bunch of drool. It’s disgusting. 

Still, the guy deserves his rest, so Percy slides out from under his arm as carefully as possible, and then immediately trips over Jupiter, curled up on the floor. He rights himself and, in a move that he’s not proud of, sticks his tongue out at the dog, sitting there, giant head full of love and being-in-the-way and absolutely nothing else. Jason is really the human version of his dog, actually, now that Percy’s thinking about it. Big, sweet, and in the way. 

He runs through his morning routine in the bathroom, and by the time he’s cycled through brushing his teeth, trying to shove his hair into some semblance of style and throwing on clean boxers, Jason is sitting up in his bed, sheets wrapped around his waist. 

His glasses are on crooked, retrieved from fuck knows where, and Percy valiantly resists the urge to push them back up his nose. 

“Good morning,” is how he’s greeted, like they wake up in bed together all the time, like any part of this situation is remotely normal.

“Hey, man,” Percy manages, forcing the words through the early-morning-feeling in his mouth. “How’d you end up in here?” It’s not really like Jason to drink enough, alone, to end up in someone else’s bed, and it’s also not really like him to do it sober, so they’re at a little bit of an impasse on the reasoning front. 

Jason blinks at him, a little morning-dumb. “Last night I finally got the blueprints scanned in, maybe around midnight? And I was so fucking wired from being up all week working on them that I couldn’t sleep, so I came in to see if you wanted to smoke.” He says it like it’s the only explanation he needs to give, like there isn’t some kind of logical gap between not being able to sleep and passing out in your bro’s bed.

If they had smoked, it would make sense. More than two hits and Jason is almost always pretty much tapped, even if he’s built like a linebacker. It doesn’t make any sense, and Percy’s had to drag him home from smoke sessions enough to know that if his dumb blond hair wasn’t so cute flipping over his face when he’s high, Jason would’ve stopped being invited out years ago.

He’s pretty sure they didn’t, is the thing. He was drunk last night, but not blacked and he doesn’t remember anything about smoking, and there’s no funky feeling in his mouth like he always gets the day after.

“And?”

“You were asleep-”

“Duh.”

“So I was going to leave, but you looked cold, and I thought ‘wow Jason, what kind of a president would you be if you let your VP freeze to death in his own bed,’ so I got in.”

It’s barely a coherent thought process, but he recognizes this Jason, the one that pushes himself to not sleep for days until whatever he’s working on is perfect, and then crashes for days as soon as he’s done. Tired Jason has been known to do some wack shit, and this is no exception.

“Hey, Jase,” he’s still in Percy’s bed, wrapped in Percy’s sheets, propped up against Percy’s pillow. “How many hours did you sleep last week?”

It’s always bad when they have to associate the words hours and week, instead of hours and night like a normal, rational person might. 

“Fuck if I know. Maybe 12?”

Percy glances at his alarm clock quickly. It’s noon now, so if Jason came in at midnight and passed out immediately, he managed another 12, probably enough to keep him going for the rest of the day at least. 

“Can you,” and Jason looks anxious like he almost never does, “come back to bed, please? I haven’t slept that well in weeks.”

It would be a war crime, probably, to look at this boy and say no, so Percy tucks himself back in next to him, leans over to push the window up just a little bit more, in retribution for Jason taking over his bed. 

Jason’s already wrapped his arms around Percy’s waist, face pressed into the skin of his hip. He looks soft, but not relaxed yet, not as much as he could be, so Percy taps him on the shoulder, patiently waits for his eyes to become visible again. 

“Wanna smoke first?”

That’s the rest of their day, right there. Percy packs a bowl with Jason’s chin hooked over his shoulder, arms wrapped around his waist, acting like he’s supervising the process even though he’s never smoked his own weed, never needed to know how to do this shit. 

It’s like twenty degrees out, maybe, but they still sit in the window, legs dangling out and pane pushed all the way up. Percy is shirtless and Jason is only in a t-shirt, but their sides are pressed together and it keeps them warm enough as they pass the pipe back and forth, blowing the smoke as far from the house and Jupiter’s dog lungs as they can get it. 

It’s nice. Domestic, even.

They wake up Sunday, still in Percy’s bed. This time Jupiter is asleep on their feet, massive body pinning both of them into the mattress. They’d ventured out of the room only once on Saturday, to play with Jupiter in the backyard so he could get a little bit of exercise, and to raid the pantry. The rest of the day was spent watching shitty cartoons, curled up together and still a little limp from the pot. They’d finally fallen asleep with Jason’s head on Percy’s chest, an arm around his waist and one of his giant legs looped over Percy’s. 

They both have to pack, still, so once they’re both up Jason retreats back to his own room, leaving Percy to fumble through packing and panic, just a little bit. It’s probably been months, since the Halloween party at least, since they were alone together for that long. They hang out all the time, but with at least two other people, usually. 

They both have too many responsibilities to be able to be actually off-duty, so even if they’re studying or at dinner, they usually have at least one active with them, dealing with some kind of crisis he needs advice on. It means Percy hasn’t had to confront his fears about their friendship, about if Jason hates him now and just hasn’t said anything.

Signs point to no, after that. Tired Jason doesn’t usually have enough self-control to not trip over his own feet, let alone pretend to care about someone he can’t stand. The fact that he’d felt strongly enough about wanting to hang out with Percy that he’d decided to just sleep in his bed says a lot. 

It was snowing, fat and heavy when they woke up and by the time Percy is packed enough to feel like he can take a break to go hunt for leftovers in the kitchen, it’s at least a few inches and still piling down. He pulls together the ingredients for hot chocolate and sits on the island with it, legs propped on one of the stools, staring out the window at the mountain of snow building up on his car. 

Honestly, he’s not too worried about his car. She’s been through worse, and the plows upstate are no joke, will definitely have the roads cleared by tomorrow when he leaves. Still, Jason’s supposed to fly, and there’s no guarantee that the entire Midwest is gonna be clear enough by tomorrow for a plane to go through. 

Ostensibly, finals are supposed to stretch until the next week, but neither of them had tests or anything due so they were leaving on Monday, Percy back on I-90, and Jason on a plane back to the west coast. He’d booked his flight to line up with Percy’s drive because Percy was his “favorite ride to the airport. You know that, bro,” like he couldn’t get anyone on Frat Row to drive him just by grinning disarmingly at them. 

They’re supposed to be heading to the airport around 11. Jason’s flight is at 12:30, and the airport is small enough that you need twenty minutes, tops, to get through security. Still, the radar looks fucking nasty for upstate, and the midwest is even worse. There’s no way they’ll let a plane head through that. 

Jason heads down, clearly freshly showered because he no longer smells like a mixture of weed and sweat. He’s barefoot, in sweatpants and the same Kings sweatshirt. Percy hopes fervently that it’s been washed since the week long studying bender. Knowing Jason though, there’s no guarantee there. 

He wanders around the kitchen for a minute, pulling together a turkey sandwich before he slides into the stool closest to Percy. His arm brushes against Percy’s dangling knee. “Looks like snow,” he says, digging into his sandwich.

Percy looks at him for a long second, then back outside. “Do you think you’re gonna be able to get your flight?”

Jason grimaces a little around the sandwich in his mouth. “It’s gonna be delayed, at least. Hopefully some of this will clear up, though. Thalia’s supposed to be home, I don’t want to get stuck here.”

The radar looked like shit, storm after storm rolling off the Great Lakes, from here all the way to Minnesota. He doesn’t want to tell him that though, doesn’t want to fuck up his mood if everything is gonna turn out fine tomorrow, somehow. Plus, Jason rarely looks this relaxed, and Percy has a crushing urge to do everything he can to keep him this way, light and calm and eating his turkey like it’s the only thing that matters to him in the world right now. 

“Hopefully.”

Spotify is still playing from the speaker in the corner, a man’s voice singing quietly about missing a hat, and a sweater or something. He drinks his hot chocolate and takes it in, looks at the snow he’s come to love, through the window of the shitty, deteriorating house that he adores. Jason is sitting close enough that he can feel his body heat on his leg, and middle school Percy would have cut off his arm to know that he would get this, a house with his brothers, far enough from his mom that he can start a new life, but close enough that he can get home if she needs him, and a boy who he knows sees him as an equal, in gender and academics and leadership. 

Neither of them feel like talking any more than that, and it’s fine, the silence still comfortable and warm, undemanding.

Leo ruins it, of course, by half running, half falling down the stairs, yelling the whole way. “Boys,” he cheers, slamming into the kitchen with a speed he’s usually not capable of. “Guess who just turned in his last paper and can get trashed!”

It’s like one in the afternoon, if that. “You?” Percy ventures.

“You KNOW it. Y’all wanna drink?”

Not really.

“Sorry, bro,” is Jason’s response, glancing up from whoever he’s texting. “I got a flight tomorrow, don’t want to risk the airport hungover.”

It’s very diplomatic. 

“I’m also flying tomorrow, though. We’d be fine!” is not quite as convincing as Leo seems to think it is. Also, for the record, Leo hungover is kind of a mess, and would very much not be fine flying.

Normally, Percy would be up for day drinking, treats it a little bit like a religion in the spring, but recently he’s been stuck on Jason, even more than normal. If it’s a choice between him, or whatever beer is still left in the fridge, he’d choose Jason every time. Plus, Annabeth’s called him an alcoholic a few times recently, and he feels a semi compulsive need to prove her wrong.

“I’m not feeling it either. Maybe one of the Stolls?” They’re chaotic as fuck, and they love to day drink. If they’re done with exams and papers, they’re pretty much guaranteed. 

“I just feel like it’s objectively really bad leadership, on both your parts, to not want to drink. Isn’t that like, your whole job?” He’s definitely looking at Percy, obviously knows that he’s the weaker link in this.

“Oh yeah, man. We’re just fucking bad at it,” he says, leaning his thigh against Jason’s arm again, so the other boy knows he’s joking. He’s not overly sensitive, usually, but sometimes he gets really touchy about his leadership capability, something that definitely stems from his businessman father. Coming off of finals, that’s definitely a risk and Percy doesn’t want to risk sending him down a rabbithole about not being good enough, or something.

“Worst presidents on campus, for sure,” Jason says, bringing a hand up to bump Percy’s fist gently.

“I’m staging a coup,” Leo decides, heading out, in search of someone else to drink with, most likely. 

The rest of the day passes pretty quickly, after that. They end up in the living room, watching some shitty movie with Will, Nico, Frank, and Hazel who had definitely slept over and just never left. 

She and Frank are on one of the couches, his legs kicked up on the coffee table and her feet in his lap. Will and Nico are in the other, Nico perched in Will’s lap with a protective arm wrapped around his waist. Jason took over the only armchair, sprawling with one leg over an armrest and one planted on the ground. Percy is at his feet, leaning into his leg. One of Jason’s hands has been making its way through his hair since they first sat down, and he feels so lax that he might fall asleep any second. Jupiter is passed out on the ground, giant head in Percy’s lap.

His blinks start to get longer and longer, and he finally stops fighting it, lets himself put most of his weight against Jason and drift a little bit. The next thing he knows, he’s on the sofa with a blanket tucked over him and a pillow under his head. It’s pitch black outside, from what he can see through the open windows, and the TV is off, room deserted. 

When he drags himself off the sofa and up the stairs, he glances into the kitchen, where the clock reads 3 am and he’s shocked that he managed to sleep that long. Even when he’s exhausted, he’s lucky to manage seven consecutive hours, and he slept for most of the weekend. Still, he felt safe, in a room with his best friends, Jason’s hands working through his hair, and apparently his brain sunk into it a little, let him drift longer than usual. 

Fortunately, he’s still tired enough that he can fall into bed and pass out almost immediately. He sleeps through til his alarm, and at ten he’s out at his car, shoveling the snow off as best he can. No one tells you, before you move to a place where it happens this much, how fucking heavy snow is when it’s piled this high. His arms burn as he digs, and it makes him grateful for every minute he’s spent in the gym this year.

It takes almost a half hour to clear all of it off, and another fifteen minutes to shovel a path in the driveway so he can pull onto the (perfectly plowed and salted) street. They’ve got a good fifteen minutes to go, so he heads back in to make himself coffee and grab a bagel from the pantry. 

He’s starting to think about bringing his bags to the car when Jason finally stumbles down the stairs, clutching his own bags and talking to Jupiter as the dog trots behind him. He throws his bags onto the chair that Percy’s are already on and comes into the kitchen to grab a bagel of his own, like there’s not plenty of food in the airport. 

“Morning, bro. You ready to head out soon?” He yawns through his words, like he didn’t sleep just as much as Percy. More, even.

“Yeah, man. Got everything you need?”

Jason nods, kneeling to clip Jupiter’s leash to his collar. Percy’s always had a suspicion that Jupiter knows far more about what’s happening around him than any dog should, and the way he’s already looking a little cowed is only serving to support his suspicions. Airplanes probably aren’t that fun for dogs. 

He does a last sweep of the first floor, making sure the appliances are off and he hasn’t dropped anything on his way to put his bags by the door. Everything looks fine, so he grabs his coffee in one hand and his bags in the other and heads for the car, propping the door open with his foot on the way out. Jason follows, a hand on Jupiter’s leash and his bag in the other. They do an odd standoff to figure out who has the best chance of locking the door without dropping their stuff and Jason wins, but has to take Percy’s keys out of his left jeans pocket to do it because his own are buried in his bag, which is pretty typical for him. 

Jupiter has been in Percy’s car enough that he has no doggy qualms about throwing himself into the backseat, and he doesn’t protest as they close the door behind him. The trunk is big enough that their bags fit with no issues, and they’re on the road at a smooth 11:15, which isn’t that bad, compared to how long it usually takes them to rally for a trip. Percy’s feeling generous, so he even lets Jason DJ, content to focus on the road and let the dad rock wash over him. 390 is plowed too, so the roads aren’t bad, even with the light snow that’s started back up, and they make pretty good time. 

Billy Bragg is singing about unions, and Percy is starting to take the exit for the airport when Jason swears next to him, quietly and then much louder. Jupiter pops his head in between the front seats, swings his head onto Jason’s shoulder to lick at his ear. 

“You good, bro?” Percy asks, pulling onto one of the massive back roads that’ll take them the rest of the way.

“Hold on, man. Can you pull over real quick?” Jason is still squinting at his phone, like he can’t believe whatever it’s saying. His left arm is wrapped around Jupiter’s neck gently, pressing the dog to him.

There’s a Fastrac coming up on their right, so Percy turns into it, trying not to worry too much before he knows what’s going on. Jason rarely panics without reason. He’ll get too invested in something, or hurt his own feelings, but he won’t straight up panic, like it sounds like he’s doing now.

He parks the car, turns it off without thinking about it and shifts in his seat so he can get a better look at Jason. He doesn’t look devastated, just a little confused and maybe a little sad. He opens his mouth, but Jason takes his hand off his dog’s neck just long enough to give him an in-a-minute gesture. He’s dialing with his other hand, and Percy feels more than hears him switch into his Upstanding Young Man voice, the one that gets him what he wants more often than not. 

“Hey, how are you doing? I’m on the 12:30 flight to LA, but I just got this email- mhm. Are you sure?” He pauses, clearly focusing on whatever the person is saying to him. “Any idea when it’ll blow over?” A frown starts to overtake his face, but he doesn’t let it bleed into his voice. “Oh, that’s rough. And the refund policy is on your website, yeah?” Another pause. “Alright, thanks for letting me know, man. Hope you have a good one.”

When he hangs up the call, it’s like all the air goes out of his body, and he slumps as far as he can into the shotgun seat, looking up at the ceiling like it has any kind of answer for him. It takes a second for him to sit back up, but Percy doesn’t push him. Finally, he rearranges his limbs into some semblance of order, and rolls his head over on the seat to look at Percy.

“Any chance you can take me back to the house? All flights just got cancelled for the foreseeable future. Apparently this storm is no joke.”

Fuck if Percy’s gonna leave Jason to his own devices over the holidays, even if he can get a flight in a few days. A few days is too long to be alone when you’re supposed to be celebrating, even if you get to head to your family after. 

He takes a second to weigh his options, the risk of pressuring his mom versus the sadness of knowing Jason is cold and alone in a too-big house on an empty campus. “Can you give me a sec? Gotta call my mom.”

He gets out of the car for it, figures he should at least give Jason the dignity of not hearing it if Sally says no, paces back and forth in the flurries while he waits for her to pick up. 

“Hey honey,” she answers, and he lets himself bask in the warmth of her voice for a second. “What’s up? Are you on the road yet?”

Like, technically. “Yeah, left about half an hour ago. I have a question, though-”

Predictably, she’s happy to have Jason, for as long as it takes him to get a plane to California. It’ll be crowded, with two dogs and four and a half people, but they’ll make it work.

When he gets back in the car, Jason has reclined his seat as far back as it’ll go, and is talking quietly on the phone, Jupiter’s head pressed against his chest. “I know, Thals. I can try to get the earliest flight possible, but the guy at the airline said it could be days- yeah. No, I can’t ask him that, would you stop-” he seems to finally realize Percy’s in the car and cuts himself off mid sentence. “Okay, I gotta go, sorry. I’ll call you back when I get to the house, we can work out a plan.”

He hangs up and tosses his phone towards his feet blindly, drags his hand over his face before he finally turns to look at Percy. “Would that work? I know we’re already kinda out of your way-”

“Hey,” Percy says, not wanting to let Jason get too far into his pity party. “Just come home with me. Mom says you’re welcome. You can fly out of JFK when things clear up.”

Jason freezes, face caught between relief/gratitude/affection and his horrible ingrained you-can-never-accept-anyone’s-kindness attitude he gets from his dad. It’s gonna take him a minute to get over, so Percy plows on. “You know she loves you, and Estelle would be so excited. You’re her favorite Kappa Sig, she says so all the time.”

Jason has met Estelle twice in person, and countless times over Facetime, when he wanders into Percy’s room and is greeted with the entire Jackson-Blofis clan staring at him from the screen of Percy’s computer. The first time they met, she was barely 6 months old, but Jason had still taken her from Sally’s arms confidently, and bounced her gently until she was laughing against his chest. 

She is, of course, not really old enough yet to know what a ‘Kappa Sig’ is, but she always sounds excited when he sticks his head in the frame to say hi. It’s basically the same thing. 

Because he’s a horrible little self sacrificing man, the best Jason can come up with is, “But wouldn’t your stepdad be upset about me crashing? I’m sure he wants to keep it just family.” 

“Are you kidding? Paul wishes you were the one who was his stepson.” Jason is clearly losing resolve, so Percy goes in for the kill. “Plus, don’t you think Jupiter would like a friend for a few days?” The guy loves his dog more than anything else in the world, and making it about him and not Jason himself is a surefire way to get him on board. 

“Are you sure?” Percy fucking hates the way it sounds, like he thinks it’s a weakness to crash in his best friend’s family’s apartment for a few days. Mr. Grace really did a number on his son, whether he knows it or not.

“Of course. Come on, text Thalia so she knows you’ll fly out of JFK, and we’ll head out.”

Jason ducks his head to type something out to his sister, trying to hide the tiny, relieved smile on his face. When he’s done, he gently pushes Jupiter’s head off his chest so he can pull the seat back up, and puts his hand on Percy’s shoulder, big and heavy. It feels like it spans his whole delt, and Percy tries not to think about it too hard. “Thanks, man. It means a lot.”

“What are friends for?” he says, turning to pull out of the parking lot and back onto 390. “Wait, actually, hold up this might be a dealbreaker.”

He regrets it immediately, when he can see Jason’s face fall, just a little bit in his periphery, like it was too good to be true. “Yeah?”

“You gotta be okay with this playlist, it’s required listening.” Sally Jackson’s “drive home <3” is a work of art, and he will defend it against anyone who criticizes it. Still, it screams made-by-a-forty-five-year-old. 

Jason smiles, soft again. “I think I can take it.”

Percy isn’t sure he can, actually. It’s way too much Steve Miller Band for any regular human being. 

The rest of the drive is comfortable, if much longer than usual. Usually he can sit through the whole thing with one stop, max, but Jupiter’s bladder and energy levels make that impossible. Still, he thinks privately, he’d take his best friend and his second favorite dog in the world keeping him company over a short, but lonely drive any day. 

They run through Sally’s playlist at least twice, before Jason insists on taking over and switching it back to his music, which is actually incredibly similar for someone who insists that he hates “Take the Money and Run.”

Around three they pull into a rest stop near Utica and Jason puts his dog’s leash in Percy’s hands and disappears before he can face any follow up questions. Percy and Jupiter do comfortable laps around the grassy area while they wait for him, and it all makes sense when he comes back with a single Dunkin’ iced coffee, that Percy can see from here has the exact amount of cream he likes in it. 

Jason has this fucking medieval ass attitude about taking care of his friends, like if he doesn’t pay for someone’s coffee he’s being a bad person. They’ve tried to get him to drop it, but he just started doing this instead, picking up whatever it is when they’re not together, so they have to accept it. 

It’s sweet though, sometimes, to be taken care of. Percy accepts it with a smile, leans up to kiss Jason’s cheek with a sudden burst of confidence. “Thanks, babe.”

The coffee keeps Percy going, but about an hour later, Jason starts to drift in and out of consciousness. He’s always like this after finals, it makes sense that after finals and the panic of arranging his flight, he’d be even worse. 

He makes a valiant effort to stay awake, but the third time Percy catches him turning all the way towards the passenger window so his yawn isn’t visible, he reaches his breaking point. Keeping one hand on the wheel, he reaches into the back seat to grab the blanket he’s kept there since he first bought his car, and tosses it gently into Jason’s lap. “Dude. Just close your eyes, I promise it’s fine.”

Jason makes a face at him, childish, but shakes the blanket out so he can tuck it over himself, and within a few minutes he’s out. 

It’s like 7:30 when they finally get to the apartment, and Jason has been asleep for a full three hours. He almost feels bad shaking him awake, but fuck if he’s gonna carry all of this up by himself and deal with Jupiter, so he gets over it. 

“Hey, wake the fuck up, man,” he says, tapping Jason’s shoulder. “We’re here, and I want to see my family.”

Eventually, Jason deigns to rise, and has no complaints about carrying his shit and the dog. As soon as Percy has secured the car, they hop in the elevator and head up to the apartment he’s lived in his whole life. Jason’s never actually been there, he realizes. Every time he’s met Percy’s family has been at school, either at the house or at Percy’s old dorm. 

He feels exposed, bringing Jason into his life like this. They live together, more or less out of each other’s pockets at school, but this is different. He can’t control every aspect of this, what part of him it shows. It’s just all of him, laid out to be judged.

Normally, he would just walk into the apartment, but he wants to remind his family that there’s a guest with him, so he raps their door once, sharp and loud in the quiet of the hallway. When he swings it open, Estelle is already flinging herself into his arms and he catches her with the ease of practice. She settles on his hip, and he leans into his mom’s arms, keeping one hand on his sister’s back as he hugs their mom. 

Mrs. O’Leary has apparently decided that because she wasn’t the first one he noticed, Jason is her new favorite, and she’s lying at his feet on her back, wriggling in an undignified way as he scratches her stomach. Jupiter is keeping a careful eye on the proceedings, but doesn’t seem too put out. 

When his mom lets him go, Percy turns towards Paul and hugs him, shorter and brusquer than the one he gave his mom, but still a hug. Jason has recovered his bearings after being set upon by their dog, and he stands, brushing dog hair onto his pants before he extends a hand to Percy’s mom. 

“Ms. Jackson, Mr. Blofis, thank you so much for having me. I can’t say how grateful I am-” and Percy knows exactly where this side of him came from, because his mom is knocking Jason’s hand away and wrapping him in a hug before he can finish his sentence. 

“You never have to thank us sweetie, you’re always welcome here, you know that.” Jason’s trying to look stoic, but Percy can see a little pink sneak into his cheeks. 

When his mom lets go, Paul leans over and shakes Jason’s hand once, a sharp downward motion. “Anytime, son. We’re happy you’re here.”

Estelle is grinning from Percy’s arms, and he leans over to transfer her to Jason, who’s arms are already in place for her. He takes her like she weighs nothing and squeezes her against his chest, lets her get her chubby little arms as far around his neck as she can. “Hey, buddy,” he rumbles, muffled a little by where her hair is sticking into his face. “You sure you don’t mind me crashing your Hanukkah?”

She leans back as far as she can get, and Percy watches Jason scramble to get support behind her back so she doesn’t tip out of his arms. “No!” she says, emphatic in the way only a two year old can be. 

Mrs. O’Leary slams her head into Percy’s knee, moving like a hammerhead shark, and he fake groans in pain, and then sits to pet her. She sits next to him, and they’re the same height like this so she takes advantage and slobbers on his face.

It’s a good distraction, from whatever feeling he’s been having in his chest, watching Jason interact with his family like they’re his own.

Eventually, everyone has greeted everyone, and they manage to move into the living room, letting the dogs play on the floor. It’s well past sundown, so the menorah is long since extinguished, but he can see it sitting in the window still. His mom catches his eye and smiles. “There’s enough latkes in the kitchen for both of you,” she says, soft like she knew exactly what he was thinking. “If you heat them up, they should taste just like new.”

They’re not really that religious, is the thing. He can’t remember the last time they’ve gone to any kind of service at a synagogue, and they don’t observe most holidays. Still, as a way to hold onto his mom’s heritage, they’ve always celebrated Hanukkah, made it a big enough deal to seem like it competes with Christmas, even though it’s not even remotely comparable in terms of relative importance. 

He doesn’t observe anything at school, and had honestly forgotten that it was even Hanukkah. Finals were too much, and then he was trying to come down from them. Even if he had though, he still probably wouldn’t have done anything about it. It feels wrong without his mom’s cooking, her even, quiet voice reading blessings. 

It’s good to be home. He’ll have a few days of their celebration, at least. It’s better than nothing. He hugs his mom again.

The rest of the night is perfect. He and Jason get their reheated latkes, and they inhale them like it’s a competition. There’s leftovers from the rest of dinner in the fridge too, and those also get torn apart. When they’re full and sleepy, they retire to the living room, where Estelle demands they watch one of her movies. 

They settle on the sofa, Jason on the end with one arm tossed over the back of the sofa, legs spread like he owns it. Percy sits at the other end, and stretches his legs out a little. Jason finds them with one arm, barely looking over, and pulls Percy’s feet into his lap, one hand around his ankles. 

Estelle clambers into Percy’s lap, fusses until he puts both arms around her and lets her recline against his chest. His parents are on the smaller loveseat, Paul’s arm around his mom’s shoulders. The dogs are on the floor in front of their sofa, Mrs. O’Leary on Percy’s side and Jupiter on Jason’s. 

He’d like to say he knows what movie they watch, but they all look the same to him and before long Estelle is snoring against his neck. The combination of her warmth in his lap and Jason’s thumb rubbing back and forth over his ankle is enough to send him into sleep as well. 

He wakes up some time later, to a dark room and the loading screen on the TV. There’s still a dog at his feet, but his eyes are blurry from sleep and it’s too dark to see color, so he has no idea which one. His parents have disappeared, as have Jason and Estelle, but he can hear noise from the kitchen, so he drags himself off the sofa and goes in search of answers. 

It’s Jason, putting clean dishes away from the dishwasher. He has a dish towel draped over one arm, and he’s switched his contacts out for glasses. He’s changed from his traveling clothes too, into a pair of pajama pants, and a sweatshirt that looks suspiciously like one of Percy’s high school swim sweatshirts. 

When he walks into the kitchen, Jason turns, smiling when he sees Percy in the doorway. “Hey, babe,” he says softly, putting the cup in his hand into the cabinet before he pulls the towel off his shoulder and dries his hands, perfunctory. 

It’s definitely a Goode High Swim Team sweatshirt, and if Percy squints he can see ‘Jackson’ embroidered over the left breast. It’s a lot to take in, the way that the sweater is at least two sizes too small for Jason but he’s wearing it anyway, sleeves pushed up his arms to disguise how short they must be. 

Jason follows his gaze to the sweatshirt and goes a little red again. He’s been blushing more since they got to Percy’s apartment than he ever does at school, which is. Interesting. “I hope you don’t mind. All of mine are still at school, cause I packed for LA and not this.” 

Percy kicks whichever part of his monkey brain is vaguely horny about Jason in his clothes. “Nah, man don’t worry about it. What’s mine is yours, right?” That’s definitely a wedding thing actually, he realizes as it comes out of his mouth. Too late to take it back.

“What’s yours is mine,” Jason confirms, looking at him with an overwhelming amount of warmth in his eyes. 

“What are you doing, anyway?” Percy asks, desperate to change the subject. 

“Oh, your parents didn’t want me to help with the dishes because I’m a guest, so I got them to at least let me put them away,” he says, like it’s a normal thing for a 20 year old dude to be excited about. 

“You really don’t have to do that, you know,” Percy says. “You’re a guest here.”

“Perce,” Jason says, voice quiet and earnest, even more than it was a minute ago. “Please let me do this. You guys are letting me stay here, instead of just hang out in the empty house. It’s really the least I can do.”

He’s not gonna win this one, he already knows, so Percy shrugs and steps all the way into the kitchen so he can help unload. “Whatever floats your boat, bud.”

They make quick work of it after that, silent except for the soft pat-pat-pat of Jupiter’s tail against the floor as he watches them. It’s almost one am, Percy finds out, glancing at the clock above the sink. His day hasn’t been that long, maybe fifteen hours, but there’s still the film of exhaustion in his head, and he’s been yawning since he woke up from his nap.

When they’re done, Jason gently herds him to his room, clearly recognizing from years of experience what Percy looks like when he can no longer be trusted to make it safely to bed on his own. He pauses when they get to the doorway, clearly taking in the single bed. The dogs push their way past him, but Jason’s still a little frozen, looking like he’s mapping the layout of the room in his head, like he does with his blueprints. 

Percy drops onto it, too tired to worry about anything else. He turns his head to look at Jason, and gestures with one hand. “Come on, man. I’m way too tired to set up the air mattress. Let’s just crash like this tonight, and tomorrow we can set it up.” 

It’s not like they haven’t shared beds before. Jason slept in his room not two nights ago. He’s about to point that out when Jason shrugs, and makes his way fully into the room. Percy had dropped their bags in here earlier, and Jason steps over them carefully before he sits on the edge of the bed. 

Percy wore sweats to drive, so he doesn’t bother to change into pajamas, just takes his sweatshirt off and tosses it in the direction of his hamper. He’s shirtless under, but it’s nothing Jason hasn’t seen before. 

He flips the lamp beside his bed on, and pointedly looks at Jason, who is marginally closer to the overhead light switch. Jason rolls his eyes like it’s some huge ask, and stands to flip it off before he comes back to the bed. He sits on the edge again, takes a second to scratch behind Jupiter’s ears as the dog sits patiently between his knees.

Pointedly, Jason glances from his dog to Percy’s, both clearly positioned to jump into the bed once the people get settled. “We all gonna fit?”

The answer is definitely no, but Percy’s not gonna turn either of these dogs away and risk them being sad, so he shrugs noncommittally. “We’ll be fine.”

Jason grimaces at him, but moves to get into bed. “You want inside or outside?” Percy’s bed is pressed against the wall, like it is at school. Jason should already know the answer. 

He makes a face at him, tries to convey the betrayal he’s feeling about his best friend not knowing him all, apparently. “Outside. Come on, man.”

Jason rolls his eyes, again, like he can sense how dramatic Percy’s being in his mind. His eyes are gonna fall out, if he keeps doing that, and Percy tells him so. “Whatever,” he grumbles, doing some kind of half shimmy half army crawl over Percy to get between him and the wall. He settles with his back pressed against it, and opens his arms so Percy can slide into them. He does, and turns the lamp off with his free arm. 

Jason whistles for Jupiter, right in Percy’s ear, just to be a dick. The dog flings himself onto the bed, and tucks into the back of Jason’s knees, chin resting on his thigh. Not to be outdone, Mrs. O’Leary throws herself on the bed too, somehow putting her massive body in between their legs.

It’s gonna be a thousand degrees when they wake up, but for now Percy is warm and comfortable, so he doesn’t fight it, lets himself sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

They go on like that for a week, until Jason can get a plane to LA. During the day they walk their dogs and Percy shows off his city, pointing at every landmark he sees, personal or otherwise. (“That’s the street corner where I fell off my skateboard in middle school and broke my arm,” to which Jason had replied, “I didn’t know you used to skateboard. That makes a lot of sense.”) They go to the coffee shops he did his homework at in high school, the parks Mrs. O’Leary loves to play at, and even walk past Goode so Jason can see it. 

When they’re not outside, they hang out with his family. Estelle continues to be enthralled by Jason, and demands that he read to her as much as possible, which he agrees to easily. Percy’s mom watches this and turns to Percy with a significant look on her face, but he ignores it, pretends he has no idea what she’s talking about. 

Percy and Paul play card games, because Paul has been trying to teach him Euchre since he married into the family, and it’s just tradition at this point. Jason helps with the cooking and the cleaning as much as the Jacksons will let him, tries to make himself useful by distracting Estelle while dinner’s being made.

It’s nice to see him this way, outside of the school environment. He only knows Stressed Jason and Crashing-After-Being-Stressed Jason. He’s different, when he doesn’t have responsibilities beyond trying to learn how to make friendship bracelets with a two-year-old. 

They never set the air mattress up.

He gets a flight, finally, on Christmas Eve. Percy wakes up early to drive him to the airport, and the rest of his family wakes up to bid him tearful goodbyes. Paul hugs Jason this time, and he sees Jason freeze for a second before he hugs back. From what Percy knows of Mr. Grace, Jason isn’t used to being hugged by dads. 

His mom swoops in next, and she looks tiny wrapped in Jason’s arms, but she’s still squeezing the life out of him, Percy can tell from here. Estelle is next, and she cries a little and presents him with a very loose friendship bracelet, made very carefully from red white and green, the Kappa Sig colors. Percy had helped her pick them out, and made sure the bracelet was vaguely bracelet shaped, while his parents distracted Jason by letting him help with dinner for once. 

Jason looks like he’s feeling too many emotions at the same time, and settles for kissing her on the cheek in thanks and asking her in a very soft voice if she wouldn’t mind putting it on him. When he straightens up, newly bracelet-ed, Percy’s mom meets him with a box, wrapped in blue and silver paper with a little bow in the middle. He gasps a little, and she brushes it off, forcing the box into his hands. 

“None of that, Jason. We had to make sure you got a little holiday, even without your family.”

Percy kicks him gently so he’ll snap out of it, and he comes to with a “thank you, Ms. Jackson.”

“It’s Sally,” she says, beaming at him. “Now have a safe flight, and say hi to your folks for us, okay?”

He nods once, face scrunched up a little, and lets Percy pull him out of the apartment. They make it all the way to the car before he talks again. “Your parents- they’re so nice, dude. I can’t believe how willing they were to just have me over like that. And your mom got me a present, too? Fuck.”

Percy grins at him before he starts the car. “I told you, they love you.” 

It’s like an hour to JFK, and they don’t talk much. Percy is playing his music this time, the stuff Jason makes fun of him for being too emo if he’s in the right mood. He’s not though, still stuck on the Jackson family, so Percy enjoys his music undisturbed. 

They pull into the parking garage, and Jason starts when he realizes Percy is also getting out of the car. “You don’t have to come in with me Perce, it’s cool.”

It’s like he doesn’t know Percy at all. “Of course I’m coming in, Jay. I do this every time, why should this be different? Gotta see my boy off.”

Jason doesn’t dignify him with an answer, just grabs Jupiter’s leash in one hand and his bag in the other. Percy grabs his own coat, more for the bag inside than for the warmth. They head inside, and Jason checks his bag, gets most of the way to security before he turns around for Percy.

Percy kneels down to pet Jupiter first, because he wants to put off saying goodbye for as long as possible. He rubs the dog’s ears vigorously, and accepts the kisses to his face. When he’s done, he stands again and lets himself be pulled into Jason’s arms. The other boy is holding him so tightly that he thinks he might fall over when he’s released. 

Because he’s bad with feelings sometimes, Jason kisses the top of Percy’s head and buries his nose into his hair, whispers “thanks,” like he thinks Percy can’t hear it there. When they break apart, Percy reaches into his jacket and pulls out the gift bag, presses it into Jason’s hands before he can say no. Jason looks at it for a second, before he jumps a little like a lightbulb went off in his head.

“Shit, hold on,” he says, rummaging in his backpack. He comes back with a small box, wrapped in red paper and hands it to Percy. 

They stand there for a second, holding their presents like idiots before Jason looks at his watch and groans. “I really have to go, but thank you. For everything.”

Percy nods, not sure if he can put anything he’s feeling into words. “Have a safe flight, Jase. Text when you land?”

“Always.”

He stands at security until he can’t see Jason’s back anymore, and then heads back to his car. He must sit there for at least fifteen minutes, silent and thinking before he remembers the box and tears it open. It’s a red mug, with green lettering. The Kappa Sig letters are on one side, and when he turns it his breath catches in his throat. In swooping print, it says “world’s best dad,” with a little label, like a nametag, under it that reads “VP Jackson.”

There’s a note in the box, written in Jason’s careful script. 

“Perce,

I know we joke about us being mom and dad, but I really don’t know where we’d be without you. You keep the frat moving, you keep the guys alive, and you keep me sane. I couldn’t ask for a better vice president. Here’s to a killer second semester.

Thanks, bro  
Jason”

When he gets home, his mom is looking at him with the same pointed look she’s been sporting for most of Jason’s visit. “Whatcha got there, honey?” she asks, gesturing at the mug in his hands. He moves his hand to cover the whole thing, not wanting to share it just yet, and tries to pretend he doesn’t know what she’s trying to say. 

“Jase gave it to me for Christmas,” he says, making for his room. “I’m just gonna put it down really quick.”

He makes a place of honor for it on his desk, next to a framed picture of him and his mom from her and Paul’s wedding. When he heads back out, she’s still waiting for him in the living room. When he walks in, she gestures at the cushion beside her, no room for argument. Once he’s sitting, she puts one hand on his, gentle but firm.

“You know you could have told us something was going on with you two,” she says, and Percy can feel his face start to burn already. She’s saying it in Portuguese too, which makes it more serious somehow. Now that they live with two people who don’t understand it, she only breaks it out when she feels like whatever she’s saying is absolutely vital. “He still could have stayed with us, if that was what you were worried about.” This cannot be happening.

“There’s nothing going on,” he protests, hoping she believes him. “I would have told you if there was.”

She chuckles a little bit, like it’s a joke and not the truth. “No, you wouldn’t have. Did you tell us about Annabeth?”

She’s got him there. “No, but that was different.” Not a good comeback, Jackson.

“And how was that different?”

“Because Annabeth and I were together!”

“So you’re saying that, basically, you wouldn’t tell us if you were in a relationship? You know, based on this example of a relationship that you were in, that you didn’t tell us about?”

He knew it was a bad comeback. “I promise, mom. There’s nothing happening with Jason.”

Her eyes linger on his face for a long time before she responds. “But you want there to be, don’t you?”

“Maybe. But he doesn’t feel that way, and it’s fine. He’s my best friend.”

“Honey,” she says, voice softer now. “I saw how he looks at you. He definitely does feel that way.”

“He doesn’t, though. He’s like that with everyone,” and even he hears his voice crack when he says it, vulnerable like even his own body knows that isn’t true, and wants to seize onto this tiny bit of hope.

“He’s not, Percy. He played with your sister for hours, well past when any other person would’ve gotten tired out. He wants to be a part of your family, and show you that he can be.”

It’s a good seven hours, give or take, until Jason will land and have service again, so Percy has plenty of time to overthink every interaction they’ve had over the last week. Still, it’s not like Jason had kissed him, or been more flirty than normal. Their relationship is solid, bros who have each other’s backs no matter what, but nothing more than that. 

They’d slept in the same bed, sure, but Percy has also done that with Grover, Frank, and Will, all people he cares about in extraordinarily platonic ways. Jason had held him every night without fail, but Percy spoons with Annabeth all the time, and that doesn’t mean anything either. He’d seemed super committed to making Estelle like him, but Jason’s like that with every kid, loves to make friends with them. It doesn’t mean anything.

They’re having an early dinner by the time Percy’s phone buzzes with the confirmation of safe landing from Jason. He excuses himself from the table for a second to open it, and is greeted with a picture of Jason and Thalia grinning in a car, their smiles a perfect mirror of each other even though the rest of their features look nothing alike. Jason’s arm is thrown around his sister’s shoulders, and it only serves to accentuate the embroidered Goode High School crest on his breast. 

It still looks devastating on him, and Percy desperately tries not to think about the implications of gifting a friend his old sweatshirt, purely out of a desperate desire to keep seeing him in it. He’d slipped a note inside the bag, scrawled on the back of one of his mom’s receipts- It looks better on you. 

Jason had been wearing the sweatshirt around the apartment, the whole time he was there. If it wasn’t on him, it was pointedly folded on his side of the bed, like he was asking Percy to not take it from him yet. 

He’d gone one step further, figured it was excusable as a joke, that he could still pass it off as just making fun of his bro for not packing a sweatshirt for winter break. Come on, man.

The text reads, “thanks bro. i’ll keep repping all the way in cali.” As Percy reads it, another one comes through. “also, please tell sally and paul thanks for the watch! it’s perfect i’m gonna wear it all the time.”

His mom had spent nearly a day freaking out about what to get Jason, struck by some crippling parental urge to not let his holiday pass with no gifts if he ended up stranded in New York for more than the week. He’d been called into her office, to be greeted with a Pinterest board of ‘Best Watches for Young Professionals.’

They’d picked one with a warm brown leather band, and an unassuming, but sleek face. He knows Jason will wear it all the time, that he’s been complaining about not having a good watch for months now. 

There’s another picture attached under it, and Percy almost doesn’t want to open it. It’s Jason’s hand, placed on his knee with the watch visible next to the bracelet from Estelle. The sleeve of Percy’s sweatshirt is visible, pushed up on his forearm. It’s a lot to take in, and he shoots back a “glad it works. tell thals i say hi!” and goes to help his mom clean up, so he won’t scream into his pillow or something. 

Winter break goes by slowly, after that. It’s nice though, a much needed break from the grind of the school year. His mom catches him looking at job postings a few times, and tries her best to shake him out of it, distract him with the latest drama from her own job. 

He sees the few friends from his high school that he’s still close with, hangs out with Grover when he’s around. They go to a New Year’s party at Rachel’s and spend most of it hiding in the corner, chatting with each other and no one else. Rachel swings past them every few hours, tries to get them to dance or at least be social, but she’s always drawn back away with hostessing responsibilities, so they stay where they are. 

The contrast is sharp, between college parties, where he would have absolutely no qualms about throwing himself into dancing, maybe kiss a few strangers, definitely spend the whole time flitting from conversation to conversation. It’s just different here, around people he’s known since before he was out, who have an idea of him that he can’t do anything to change. It’s not as easy, as school, and he finds himself wishing his boys were here. 

Still, it’s nice to catch up with Grover, hear all about his forestry conservation major and what that entails. SUNY ESF isn’t that far away from Percy’s school, actually, and they talk a little about trying to see each other more second semester, before they both graduate. 

He ends up leaving a little earlier than he normally would have, feigns a headache from the alcohol and the noise of the fireworks. He’s home in time to see their groupchat light up as each timezone passes into the next year, first the east coasters, and then Leo, Will and Nico in Texas. 

At three am, Jason and Frank check in, each sending strings of emojis to the big group chat. He gets a snap from Jason, just to him, and opens it to a video of him chugging a glass of champagne, plastered against Thalia’s side. She looks significantly more sober, but is smiling indulgently at her brother. They’re definitely at a party somewhere, if the dancing visible behind them and the strobe lights lighting them up are to be believed. 

He falls asleep, phone still playing the snap on a loop.

A few days into January, Paul comes into his room with the weather app pulled up to Rochester, a worried look on his face. “You guys are gonna get swamped,” he says, brows furrowed in worry. “You sure you’re gonna be okay to get back?”

Percy takes the phone from him, squinting at the dates. Somehow, the Saturday he’s supposed to be driving back to school is clear, if with an impressive high of 21 degrees. Every day around it looks like a mess though, nothing but snow. 

He pulls it up on his own phone and sends a screenshot to the e-board group chat. “We might have to look at the dates for the Polar Plunge,” he types, thinking about it for a second before he adds, “Lake Ontario’s gonna be nasty.” Not even thirty seconds later, his phone is lit up with a Facetime request from Jason, and Paul raises his eyebrows, and excuses himself from the room.

When he accepts the request, he’s greeted with Jason’s face framed in an incredibly unflattering way, hair flattened on his head and glasses deeply lopsided. He’s clearly just woken up, if the way his eyes aren’t even really open is to be believed. It makes sense, given that it’s barely seven am in California. It’s impressive that Jason’s even functioning enough to work his phone, honestly.

“Hey, bud,” Percy says, trying to hide the fondness in his voice. “What’s going on?”

He hasn’t heard Jason’s morning voice for a week at this point, and it’s a little bit of a shock to be reminded how deep it is. “Can we even change the dates at this point? We’ve done all the advertising, and the provost already agreed to it, I don’t want to risk losing that support.”

“I have no clue,” Percy says, rubbing one hand over his face. “We’d definitely have to sit down with him, to talk about it. And look at the permit, too.”

“Should we call, like, the National Park Service or someone? Who did we even get the permit from in the first place, because-”

They go on like that for an hour, Jason gradually looking more alert as they work through the details. Percy ends up pulling out his laptop to take notes as they bounce ideas off each other. The Polar Plunge is one of their biggest events of the year, always has been, but there’s a fine line between ostensibly risking pneumonia for charity and actually risking pneumonia for charity. It’s probably not a good idea to host it in a blizzard. 

Finally, they reach a point where they have to consult the rest of e-board before they make any decisions, so they let the conversation drift to their winters, since they last saw each other. Jason talks about his sister for a while, about how he loves her more than anything and is deeply grateful that she could make it home for the holidays, and that he could make his way out to see her. He doesn’t bring up his dad, and Percy doesn’t ask, doesn’t want to ruin the good mood he’s in. 

In return, Percy tells him about hanging out with Grover, the New Year’s party and Estelle opening her presents, how cute she is in her tiger onesie from Paul’s parents. He talks about how excited his mom had been when she opened his present to her, a new translation of the Iliad that he’d only heard good things about from his professors, and how she and Paul had surprised him with a gift certificate to a tattoo shop near their apartment. 

Jason chokes a little, at that, like Percy hasn’t been talking about getting one since the first day they’d met. When he points that out, Jason looks a little shifty still, but diverts the conversation to getting Percy to explain the tattoo he’s gonna get.

Eventually, Estelle wanders into his room and, after waving hello to Jason and demanding to see the bracelet she gave him (which is, of course, still intact on his wrist), insists on Percy’s presence at lunch. He excuses himself from the call, after confirming Jason’s flight details for coming back to school.

Their return to school is starting to loom, so Percy goes ahead and makes his tattoo appointment for a week before he drives back, to give it time to heal before he enters the less than clean house. 

Percy wakes up early the day of, full of anxiety. He’s been thinking about getting a tattoo for years, sure of what he wanted for at least two. Still, the reality staring him in the face is frightening. He walks Mrs. O’Leary, heads to the coffee shop next to the tattoo place and sits for an hour, sipping his coffee and trying to calm down. Grover joins him after a while, for moral support.

When it’s finally almost noon, they head over and chat with the receptionist until his appointment is up. A guy comes up and introduces himself as the artist, Dylan, and leads them to the back of the shop, and his chair. Percy starts to feel his anxiety fade as they talk. 

By the time they’re ready for the actual tattoo, he has no qualms about pulling his shirt off so Dylan can press the stencil to his skin, transferring the purple ink so he can see where it’s gonna go. Percy walks over to the mirror, twists his arm back and forth so he can see the full spread of the ink. It’s perfect, and he says so when he sits back down.

The buzz of the needle freaks him out again, but Grover holds his hand as it starts, and Dylan is quick to distract him as he lays back on the table. They talk about his classes, Kappa Sig and his family. He “mmm’s” in all the right places as Percy talks about his plans post graduation (none) and how afraid he is that he’ll have to leave the state to get a job or a Masters (very). 

When they’ve run through his whole life story, he asks Grover about his, and they tell the story of how they’ve been best friends since middle school, and managed to stick together through every single school change Percy had put his mom through. He tells Dylan about his program, and how fond he is of his professors and finally his own graduation plans, (much more fleshed out than Percy’s).

Maybe two hours in, he’s barely feeling the drag of the needle anymore, distracted listening to Dylan talk about his girlfriend and their dogs. He doesn’t even really notice that Dylan has pulled it away for longer than usual until the artist taps twice on the table next to his hip. “You’re done, man. Wanna take a look?”

His legs are a little shaky when he stands, from anxiety or lack of use, he’s not sure. In the mirror, the black lines are stark against his skin, swirling around his bicep, thickest at his shoulder, fading out towards his elbow. It’s waves, interspersed with fish and sea monsters from Greek myths. There’s mackerel, flounder and tuna, all common in the Long Island Sound, Black Grouper that are common off the coast of Brazil, but also mermen and hippocampi.

When he turns around, Grover is at his shoulder, looking at the art. “It looks perfect, dude. I love it,” he says, grinning up at Percy. 

He can’t help but agree. It’s exactly what he pictured, and he shakes Dylan’s hand vigorously, and makes sure to tip generously on his way out. His parents paid for half the tattoo, it’s the least he can do to tip a little extra. His arm burns a little, but he can barely feel it, high on how happy he is with the work.

His mom and Paul gush over it, and so does Annabeth when he sends her a picture. Estelle desperately wants to color it in, and has to be persuaded to hold off until it’s healed. He sends a picture to the e-board chat, to be met with every possible variation of “sick!!” Notably, Jason doesn’t respond until much later, a simple “looks good perce.”

He tries not to overthink it too much, the lack of response. He’d expected Jason to be excited for him, not barely more than apathetic. He can’t figure out why he wouldn’t be, because if anyone knows how much he’s wanted this, it’s Jason. 

Even Piper texts him, “looks awesome dude!! can’t wait to see it in person!” At least that means that Jason had thought it was cool enough to show her, because Percy hadn’t texted her directly. From what he can tell, Jason has spent his whole break with either Thalia or Piper, often both of them. 

He forgets, sometimes, that Jason and Piper had known each other in high school. They’d dated, too, but broken up long before they decided to go to the same college. They’re well in the past, but he still feels a little jealousy creep up everytime he sees them together on Piper’s snap story, surfing or drinking at the bars that line the beach. 

Annabeth, of course, is above that, and when he’d brought it up to her a few Skype calls ago, she’d laughed at him. “Why would I be jealous? They’ve been broken up for like five years, which is much longer than they ever dated. Also, I’m not dating Piper, so-”

They’d gotten sidetracked from there, Percy too busy mocking her for not doing anything about being in love with her vice president. She’d denied it, but he’s not blind, and she’d given up pretty quickly.

He’s gonna miss her, when they graduate. Still, there’s a chance that they’ll end up in the same city, and he’s holding out hope for that. They’d be kickass roommates. 

Of course, because he’s trying to savor it, the last week of winter break flies by. Before he knows it, his mom is hanging out in his desk chair, supervising his packing (read: chatting with him about anything she can think of, but pretending to help pack so he doesn’t point out that she’s sad he’s leaving). He’s facing away from her, talking idly about the Islanders’ playoff chances when she makes a curious noise, and then laughs a little. 

He turns to see her holding his mug from Jason, turning it back and forth in her hands. He feels a little embarrassed about it for a reason he can’t explain, like there’s anything untoward about having a mug given to you by a friend. 

“What’s this?” she asks, making unblinking eye contact with him. He can feel his face reddening under her gaze. 

“Uhh,” he starts, which is a killer opening. “Jason gave it to me, for Hanukkah, or Christmas or whatever.”

She turns it over in her hands, tracing her fingertips over the letters, and then the strip at the bottom that says ‘VP Jackson.’ “That’s nice of him.” She’s still staring at it, like it’ll tell her something if she looks long enough. “What’s the ‘World’s Best Dad’ thing, though. Got something you want to tell me?”

“It’s a joke,” he says, aware of how stupid it sounds. “Some of the guys call us that, mom and dad.”

Her eyes are impossibly soft when she looks back up at him. “Sweetie, this doesn’t look like a joke to me. It looks really earnest.” He opens his mouth to protest, but she shakes her head at him and he cuts himself off. “I know Jason’s a good guy, and he’s super confident in his masculinity or whatever, but I don’t think normal bros lean into jokes about being married to their friends like this.”

“He’s my best friend though. It’s not like we’re just bros.”

“Yeah, sweetie, that’s what I’m saying. He’s in love with you.”

He doesn’t have a good response to that, so he doesn’t say anything, just keeps folding his pajama pants back into his backpack. She seems to realize that he doesn’t want to talk about it anymore, and sighs dramatically as she stands. 

“Fine,” she says, punctuated with a kiss to his forehead. “But you know, you can tell us anything.”

“Yeah, mom. Thanks.”

Grover comes over, and they’re on the road by three. Usually they drive separately, but timing had worked out, and it’s not really any longer to swing by Syracuse, first. Plus, it helps keep him from freaking out too much, given that he’s heading west for what may very well be the last time. There’s no guarantee that he’ll end up back in western New York after graduation, and he’s not coming home for spring break, so it’s a very real and looming possibility that he’s not going to be back up there, for a long time. 

He tries not to think about it. For all he knows, he’s gonna live the rest of his life out in middle-of-nowhere New York, surrounded by farmland and his dog, nothing else. It wouldn’t be a bad life, if only he knew how to farm. Guy’s gotta make money somehow. 

Grover DJ’s as they drive, and pulls up the most upbeat playlist he can find on Percy’s Spotify, which is, upon closer inspection, one of Jason’s, actually. Still, it keeps them from getting too in their feelings about college ending, so it’s serving its purpose. 

They hit ridiculous traffic getting out of the city, and it somehow gets worse around Albany, even though it’s usually the other way around. It clears a little when they’re off of 87 and on I 90, but it’s still ugly, and he watches the ETA on Waze creep later and later, settling around 10:30, when Jason’s plane is supposed to land around 10.

By the time they get to Grover’s apartment in Syracuse, it’s become clear that for the first time in three years, Percy won’t be at the airport in time to meet him. Grover, like the good friend he is, holds his tongue about exactly how much he’s overreacting. They say their goodbyes, and Percy promises to set a weekend for Grover to come visit, meet the guys and go out a few times.

He’s met them before, of course, at least the ones Percy’s super close with, like Jason, Frank, Leo, Will and Nico, but there are new guys in the house, and Jason’s been making noise about wanting to hang with Grover, anyway. 

When he’s back on the road, he calls Nico, hoping desperately that the other boy will pick up. He does, and Percy’s briefly so overcome with relief that he forgets to listen to what the guy’s saying. When he remembers, Nico’s voice is coming through the Bluetooth a little bitchier than it probably was to start with.

“Percy? You there?”

“Yeah, hey man. Can you text Jason for me?”

Nico breathes into the phone, like he’s praying to some god for patience. “And why can you not simply text him yourself?”

“I’m driving, I can’t.”

“You don’t know how to use Siri, man?” Nico’s voice is a little frustrated but mostly amused. 

“Listen, I do, but you know she doesn’t understand my voice for some reason.” He’s been unable to dictate any sentence longer than “call ___” for the entire time he’s known how Siri works. It’s an ongoing issue in his life. 

“Fine,” Nico says, sounding very put-upon. “What do you need me to say?”

“Can you just tell him I got stuck in traffic, and I’ll be there as soon as possible? I can meet him by baggage like normal, it just might not be until like 10:30.”

He can sense Nico frowning at his phone, like he thinks Percy isn’t thinking it through. “Dude, we can just pick him up. Will’s car is here, so’s the Stolls’.”

“No!” Percy says, surprising even himself with the force behind it. He tries to pull the volume back to an appropriate, chill level. “I’ve got it, don’t worry about it. Can you just let him know?”

“Fine,” Nico says, hanging up with absolutely no fanfare.

He’ll have to deal with that later, whatever Nico thinks is happening. It’s just tradition, this need to pick Jason up. If he doesn’t do it, he might never get the chance again. He just wants that high of being the first person to greet him, to get back into the swing of school for the last time.

He speeds the rest of the way. There are never cops on I 90 once you’re past Syracuse, and he takes advantage of it as much as he can without being blatantly reckless. It’s 10:25 when he pulls into the parking lot, and by 10:30 he’s inside, heading for baggage claim. It’s maybe 25, and snowing gently, so he takes a minute to hope that Jason has been smart enough to at least wear a sweatshirt on the plane. 

The guy in question is sitting on a bench, Jupiter’s head on his knee. He’s focused completely on his dog, and doesn’t look up until Jupiter does, tail wagging when he recognizes Percy. He’s wearing threadbare sweatpants, and Percy’s sweatshirt, hood pulled up over his head. He looks exhausted, the little bit of hair visible flattened against his head unflatteringly. 

His face still lights up, so happy to see him that Percy almost has to take a step back. Jupiter has removed his head from Jason’s lap to move towards Percy, so his master is free to stand as well, doing his best to avoid his dog’s body as he pulls Percy into a tight hug.

When they break apart, Jason is still smiling at him, but turns away to grab his stuff, clearly intent on getting back to the house as soon as possible. “What took you so long, man?” he asks, words impatient but his tone making it clear that he’s joking. “I thought I was gonna die here, abandoned by my closest advisor. Always knew you were more interested in the power.”

“You got me, Caesar,” Percy says, grabbing the door so Jason can get through uninhibited. “It was all part of my plan.” They’re most of the way to the car when he adds, “Sorry though, dude. Traffic was a bitch out of the city.”

Jason doesn’t even bother responding, just sticks his dog in the backseat and his bags in the trunk, and slides himself into the shotgun seat. “Et tu, Brute?”

“Shut up, dude.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jason definitely fucking loves Percy's tattoo, and spent so long trying to draft a text about it that wasn't Horny On Main that he realized it would be even more incriminating to acknowledge it once he figured out what to say.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All I have to say about this chapter is that Percy Jackson would unironically love the song "Short King Anthem" by TMG, and I stand by that.

By the time they’re back at the house, Jason’s body seems to have remembered that it’s barely 8 pm in California, and he’s gotten a second wave of energy. He holds it together while they bring all their shit into the house, and say hi to the guys hanging out in the living room, but as soon as they’re done, he’s changing into running clothes, and strapping Jupiter’s harness back on.

As soon as they’re gone, Frank turns to look at Percy, pointedly. It’s just him and Nico left, everyone else having retired to do something elsewhere. “So,” he starts, inclining his head like he’s thinking about something, instead of about to roast the shit out of Percy. He’s definitely been sitting on whatever he’s about to say for at least an hour, because he’s getting a very self-satisfied look on his face.

“So. Can I ask what was so important about you picking Jason up? Any of the rest of us could do it.”

Percy turns to look at Nico, betrayed, but the boy just shrugs at him. “Dude, I was here when you called, you think no one asked what you wanted from me? There’s no privacy here.”

He wants to protest, but there isn’t really anything he can say in his own defense, so he just waits for Frank to get it out of his system.

“And, don’t think I didn’t notice his sweatshirt! I know full well that there isn’t a Goode High School in LA, and Jason can’t swim for shit, so, not exactly your most subtle moment. Did you seriously force him to wait at the airport for another half an hour so you could hook up? For shame, Percy.”

“We didn’t,” he says, trying not to make eye contact with either of them. “Hook up, we didn’t hook up.”

Nico is snickering a little, like the piece of shit he is, but he tries to arrange his face into some semblance of a good friend. “Listen, the only reason they didn’t hook up is because Percy’s in love. He wants to treat Jason right, and I’m talking wine-and-dine, kiss on the front porch after a first date, real southern gentleman shit.”

“Can you shut up?” Percy begs, desperate to retain some semblance of self-respect. “It’s not like that.”

“Oh yeah?” Frank asks, looking for all the world like he knows he’s won this one. “So what, pray tell, is it like?”

“I gave him that sweatshirt when he came home with me for break,” he says, aware of how weak a defense it is. “He didn’t pack a sweatshirt, and it was cold in the city.”

Nico looks like he’s gonna bite his tongue off from trying not to laugh. “He didn’t pack a sweatshirt? Percy, it’s fucking 50 degrees in California in December. Of course he packed a sweatshirt.”

He hadn’t though, or he wouldn’t have taken Percy’s. He tries to point it out, but Frank and Nico have fixed him with twin I-Can’t-Belive-How-Dumb-You’re-Being looks, and he swallows it. 

Just because they’re both in long term relationships, they think they’re so fucking qualified, he thinks, meanly. He’s saved from having to try and argue by Jason, coming through the door in a waft of freezing wind. Jupiter is behind him, covered in snow, and seems to take Percy’s lap as an invitation, so he’s met with 70 pounds of wet, cold dog in his face. It’s a good enough distraction, and he takes it, rubbing Jupiter’s sides emphatically until the snow is mostly brushed off. 

Jason is rattling around in the kitchen, likely in search of water. His cheeks are bright red, and Percy doesn’t want to deal with that, so as soon as Jupiter is mostly de-snowed, he makes his excuses and retreats upstairs. He’s got a few texts from his mom about the drive, and he lets her know that they made it safely, and that he’ll Facetime tomorrow.

He wakes up early on Sunday, to Will banging on his door. It doesn’t sound urgent, just loud, so he takes his sweet time getting out of bed to let him in. The other boy barely looks at him, just snaps “last minute e-board meeting at ten, be there,” before continuing down the hall to Leo’s room. 

They gather around the dining room table, Percy tucked into the biggest hoodie he could find, with a flannel over it, sweatpants tucked into his socks. Sometimes in the winter, the house gets really cold for no reason, like the heating just decides to stop working for a few days at the time. Today is one of those, and everyone else seems to be dressed about the same from what he can see.

Leo has a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, Will is wearing what is definitely one of Nico’s jackets, black and bulky with a fur lining peeking out around the collar. Frank is flexing his Vancouver blood, dressed in thin pajama pants and a long sleeved t-shirt. He doesn’t even look cold, is the worst part. His hands aren’t even tucked in his sleeves, just positioned on his keyboard, ready to take note during the meeting.

Jason’s at the head of the table, back in his beloved Kings hoodie, shivering, one hand wrapped around a cup of coffee. Jupiter is pressed against his legs, and his other hand is buried in the dog’s fur, for warmth more than anything else, it looks like. 

The coffee looks like a good idea, and Percy pours himself a cup too before taking his place in the one empty chair. As he settles in, Jason pulls out his gavel and taps it gently across the table, once. 

“Frank, you good?” he asks, waiting for confirmation before he continues. “Okay, so first of all, Will I love you, but this is not a good enough reason to have a meeting at 10 when I’m jet lagged, so. You’re fired.”

“Can’t fire me, it was a vote.”

“You got me there. Okay, so, as we all know, the weather is only gonna get worse from here,” he gestures out the window, to where the snow is already almost a foot high. “So we have to figure out the Polar Plunge. We have it scheduled, right now, for next week Saturday. We can keep that, and risk not being able to get up to the lake, or we can look into pushing it back, maybe another week. With that, though, there’s the issue of making sure we get the change of date out to everyone who’s already signed up, as well as donors. Thoughts?”

Leo’s twirling a pencil in his hand, looking at it thoughtfully. “Let’s just go ahead and do it this week? I mean, there’s no guarantee that the weather next week is gonna be any better. Y’all know New York, it’s gonna be like this for months.”

“He’s right,” Frank adds, looking like it hurts him a little to say. “We should just do it this week. If it looks super dangerous, we can call it, but most of the people who are gonna be driving are used to the snow. It’s not like it’s any worse than it usually is, this time of year.”

Jason looks at Percy, like he’ll have anything intelligent to add. He definitely doesn’t, but he’s probably got some responsibility to participate, so he chimes in. “I think they’re right, I mean, I can totally drive in this, as long as the roads are clear, and you know they will be. Plus, it’s not like we haven’t been in the lake during a snowstorm before, it’s not that bad.”

It was January or February of their freshman year, and Percy and Annabeth had only been dating for a few months. He was a little panicked, about something that seems so stupid now, looking back on it, but it had seemed deathly important at the time, and Jason had been upset about something completely unrelated. 

They’d been pacing in the house, even though neither of them lived there at that point, and Beckendorf had gotten sick of them interrupting his studying every thirty seconds and suggested that they get outside for a while. When Jason had gestured outside, Beckendorf just rolled his eyes, and went “So? Snow’s not gonna kill you, Jase.”

Luke had overheard, and come into the kitchen to join them. “You know, the lake is really pretty this time of year. The beach is covered in snow, but the water isn’t frozen. It’s only an hour or so from here.”

They’d hopped in Percy’s car and driven north, until they got to the park that Luke had suggested. They’d smoked a little in the gazebo, and then stood barefoot in the water until it burned. It was one of the first times they’d hung out, just the two of them. 

Jason looks like he’s remembering it too, and he shrugs a little. “Yeah, okay. All in favor of keeping it the same day?”

Each hand goes up, and he gavels the table again. “Cool. Spread the word.”

Frank already has their twitter up on his laptop, typing out an update and Will shoots a text to the GroupMe. Leo heads out of the room, and Jason stands to come behind Percy, putting a hand on each of his shoulders. 

"Hey, I’d ask if you wanted to hang, but I think I might fall asleep no matter what.”

Percy cranes his head to the left, so he can make eye contact with Jason over his shoulder. “I’m probably gonna go spread the word to Alpha Sig, ‘cause I think some of them were gonna participate, but I can wake you up when I get back? You probably shouldn’t sleep all day anyway, it won’t help with the jet lag.”

“Yeah,” Jason says, covering a yawn. “Sounds good.”

Frat Row is pretty deserted, even though classes start tomorrow, and he takes his time walking to the Alpha Sig house. All the houses look beautiful in the snow, even if the peace and quiet is ruined just a little by the pledges he can see shoveling out driveways as he passes. 

He can see Annabeth sitting at the table through the window, and she turns to wave at him as he approaches, clearly talking to someone who isn’t visible, because the door swings open as he raises his hand to knock. It’s a girl he doesn’t know, but she smiles and waves so he smiles back before Annabeth drags him into their dining room

It could be the scene he just left, honestly, but their dining room looks less like it hasn’t been cleaned for several years, and thanks to their fireplace, it’s not below freezing. Annabeth is at the head of the table, flanked by Piper and Hazel. He doesn’t know the rest of their officers, beyond having chatted with them at parties, but none of them seem to mind his presence that much, and one pulls out the chair next to her for him to sit. He hugs Annabeth around the shoulders briefly, and then takes it. 

“Hey, Perce. These are Gwendolyn, Drew, and Ella,” she says, pointing at the girl across from him, the one next to her, and the girl who had pulled out the chair, respectively. “We’re just wrapping up. What’s up?”

“I came to check in about the Polar Plunge, but it can definitely wait if you want to get all your business out of the way first,” he says. It always feels like he’s intruding, to be here, and he doesn’t want to derail their meeting. 

“Sure,” she says, making a note on the paper in front of her. “Actually, I was gonna call Jason in a bit- we were thinking about proposing a joint fundraiser with you guys, maybe towards formal season. Thoughts?”

Fundraisers with Alpha Sig fucking rule, and he says so. 

She smiles at him, and makes another note. “Let’s see about having some kind of joint meeting in a few weeks? At least you two, me and Pipes, and maybe standards, risk management?”

“Sounds good. I’ll loop Jase in.”

Piper’s making a face at him, like she knows something he doesn’t, but he doesn’t want to deal with that so he busies himself with shooting the text off, careful not to look at her.

Annabeth is still talking, and he lets himself zone out a little, listening to familiar words like “don’t embarrass yourselves” and “please stop juuling in public, I can’t keep standards from Nationals off our back for long.”

True to her word, she does wrap up pretty soon, and they all turn to look at him, expectantly. 

“Okay, so basically we decided we’re gonna keep the same date, same time for the Plunge, but if anyone drops out because of the weather they’ll still get the shirt and stuff, because it’s gonna be fucking cold. How many of you are registered?”

Every girl at the table raises their hand. Annabeth looks down at her paper, and confirms, “Most of us. I think a few of our freshmen aren’t, but otherwise everyone.”

“Cool, okay. So we’re gonna have Frank get a picture of all of you, with all of Kappa Sig if you don’t mind, so we can use it for publicity about cross-organization philanthropy. We’re gonna be giving shirts out at the event itself, but if you guys don’t mind swinging by our house and picking them up the day before so you can have them for the picture, that would be great.”

He tries to run through the list in his head, make sure he’s not missing anything. “I think that’s it. We’re looking forward to it.”

“Cool,” Piper says, smiling at the girls around her. “Take off, guys. Let me know if you have any questions about anything we went over.”

As everyone else leaves, Annabeth stands up and hugs him for real, tucking her face into his neck and holding on. When she lets go, Piper comes over and hugs him too, warm and tight. “Happy second semester, babe,” she says, stepping back. “How are things at the house?”

“They’re all right. Trying to stay on top of everything, as always. We should be good for the Polar Plunge, but we’re still trying to figure out a theme for formal, and where it’s gonna be.”

“You have months for that, though,” Annabeth says, heading for the living room like she just expects them to follow her. They do, of course, because it’s Annabeth.

“I know, we’ve just gotta start looking at elections for officers, too. I think Leo or Will’s gonna take over as president, but then we have to find a new risk management person, and a new social chair, which is gonna be rough.”

“God, tell me about it,” Piper says, letting herself crash onto the sofa next to Annabeth. “Hazel’s probably gonna be president, but I don’t know if there’s any good VP option. Drew’s graduating with us, which is good because I would hate to have her in the running for president, but that leaves Gwen and Ella, and I don’t know if either of them wants to be VP, really. There’s not a lot of juniors who aren’t already officers who want to be, and I’m worried about having a sophomore make the jump.”

It sounds horrible, but it’s kind of nice to listen to someone talk about stress that he doesn’t have to worry about, beyond supporting his friends. He doesn’t have anything to add, doesn’t know the sisters like Piper and Annabeth do, so he just chills in his chair, listens to them go back and forth and chimes in with a “yeah!” whenever it seems appropriate. Before he knows it, it’s almost three, and he still hasn’t eaten, so he leaves them to it, and heads back to Kappa Sig. 

Frank, Hazel and Nico are in the kitchen, her perched at the island as Frank cooks something complicated-looking on the stove. Nico is sitting next to his sister, head resting on the counter as he listens to her talk about the classes she’s signed up for this semester. 

They all turn as he walks in, and Frank greets him with a sharp, “Jason’s not up yet. In case you’re wondering.”

Hazel snickers and Nico snorts a little bit, so Percy turns around and leaves before he’s even really in the room. He doesn’t have the energy to deal with them, right now. 

As he heads up the stairs, he can see Jason’s door closed, but with music playing softly out of it. When he gets closer, he can hear two snores, one human and one distinctly dog-sounding. He almost doesn’t want to interrupt, but if Jason sleeps any longer he’ll be useless this week until he adjusts to EST again, so he gets over himself and knocks on the door, once quietly and then once, much louder.

Jupiter whuffs, so he knows he’s in and swings the door open. Jason is facedown on his bed, shirtless, with his massive dog lying half on his legs. Jupiter looks overjoyed to see him, which has the additional bonus of making his tail whack Jason’s calves with a force that actually looks like it hurts. 

Jason twitches, and then tries to roll over, but can’t, limited by the weight of his dog. He manages to twist his head around and face the door at least, and bro-nods the best he can when he sees Percy.

“Hey man, let’s get lunch, I’m starving,” Percy says, electing to ignore the shirtlessness and the relative stupidity of bro-nodding someone you’ve slept in the same bed with several times. 

“Ughhhhhhh,” Jason says eloquently, before reaching down to gently shove his dog off so he can roll over. “What time is it, anyway?”

“Three-thirty, let’s go,” he learned years ago that if you want Jason to do anything when he’s just woken up, it works much better to tell him what you’re doing than rely on him to make any kind of decision on his own.

“Aight. Can you toss me my shirt? It’s on the dresser.”

It is not on the dresser, it is crumpled at the foot of the dresser, but he valiantly avoids pointing that out as well. Bros don’t mock bros when they’re jet lagged. As he tosses it, Jason drags himself out of bed and throws it on. He’s still wearing socks and his sweatpants, so all he has to do is pull the shirt and a beanie on, and he’s heading out the door. 

He looks like shit, but Percy’s not gonna bring that up. He’s being the bigger person today. Unfortunately, Nico is not, and as soon as they come down the stairs, he’s latched onto Jason’s outfit, making fun of everything he can see. It’s a bold choice, coming from someone who’s been known to wear the same all-black outfit for several days in a row, but Jason seems too tired to formulate a comeback, and just takes the mocking as it comes. 

He’s still practically sleepwalking as they head to the cafe, but he’s awake enough to make fun of Percy for getting the same sandwich he’s been ordering at least once a week since their freshman year. Once he gets some food in him, he perks up a little, enough to bitch about the snow on the ground, and how much colder it is than California, like that’s some kind of shocking revelation. Like, yeah man, New York is colder than the west coast. Who’da thunk. 

Percy is still, valiantly, being the bigger person, so he lets him bitch and just sits back and observes, the Not Bros part of his brain just happy to be back with Jason, no matter what they’re doing. He tries not to let it show on his face, that he’d be willing to sit here and listen to him complain forever, as long as Percy gets to stare at the way he moves his hands when he’s passionate about something. It’s not that deep.

Luckily, Jason gets it out of his system sooner rather than later. As he finishes up, he throws one more insult at the capital-N North in general, before his face softens a little, and he looks like his normal self again. Once he’s back, they talk about nothing for a little while, just long enough for the dinner rush to come in. 

Like a horrible horde of wasps, the freshmen and sophomores start entering, first in a trickle, and then in a mass, looking for seats anywhere they can find them. It’s horrible, and they always forget to time cafe visits around this kind of thing, which is truly on them at this point. They should know better.

Still, it’s autopilot to start packing up as the mob enters, and they’re heading out before it gets too bad. When they’re almost back at the house, Percy finally remembers that he has official business to talk about. Predictably, Jason is just as excited as he was about the fundraiser with Alpha Sig, and has his usual list of horrible theme ideas that he’ll need to be shamed out of, later. 

Will, Nico, Leo, Frank, and Hazel are all in the living room when they get back, along with a girl that Percy doesn’t recognize. She’s pressed against Leo’s side though, so he assumes that this is the elusive girlfriend who’s more or less a Gamma legacy. 

Frank and Will are playing Call of Duty, both leaning as far forward as they can get without literally standing up. Nico appears to be ignoring them, but Percy would bet on him being in line to play the winner. Hazel is chatting with Leo and the other girl, but still leaning against Frank. It’s probably in a show of support, actually, because he appears to be losing desperately.

Frank is fucking terrible at Call of Duty. 

Jason is back to his normal self, more or less, so as soon as they open the door he’s throwing himself towards Nico, jostling him until he’s annoyed enough to flick him on the arm, several times. Jason’s grinning like he lives to bother people, and Percy wonders, yet again, why people think he’s this responsible, quiet, leader. He’s just like this, all the time.

“Yo, I got next!” Jason cheers, settled with an arm around Nico’s shoulders. He’s being glared at, both by Nico and a little by Will, though the latter is barely glancing over as he tries to wipe the floor with Frank. 

When he succeeds, he leans back and puts his arm around Nico’s waist, pulling him mostly out of Jason’s arms and into his own lap. Jason is doing his best to look put out, but he’s always seemed happy to see Nico and Will together, so it’s clearly fake. He’s hiding his pride very poorly. 

Percy is still at the door, petting Jupiter absentmindedly. There’s not really anywhere to sit, unless he wants to get really up in someone else’s business. Usually it would be a no-brainer, but ever since he’d slept with Jason every night for a week, and then very much Not Talked About It for several weeks after the fact, he’s not so sure. 

Leo and the girl are in the armchair, and each other couple has a sofa to themselves. They’re not small sofas, but most of the guys are big enough that they still can’t comfortably fit more than two people in each, unless everyone is sitting with decent posture and not manspreading. 

Jason, Will, and Nico were barely all fitting before Will dragged Nico into his lap. If Hazel was sitting up, sharing with her and Frank would be an option, but she’s got her legs stretched across the rest of the sofa, so there’s no way he can join them without shoving her legs over. 

He’s thinking about taking the floor when Jason looks over at him from where he’s trying to pick a weapon on the screen. They know each other too well, probably, because it only takes the other boy a quick glance to figure out what’s going on.

“Dude,” he says, looking like Percy is an idiot. “Just come over and sit.” He’s not gonna fight that, so he starts to walk over, Jupiter trailing him. When he’s almost at the sofa, Jason stands, moving away so Percy has room to sit. When he gives him a questioning look, Jason gives him the same look. “I’m just gonna sit on you bro, come on.”

Percy’s decently big, for a trans dude at least, but Jason is huge. This isn’t the first time they’ve sat like this, but every single time, he’s felt a little like the air is being crushed out of him, from some combination of proximity, and the actual weight of a 6’4” dude on top of him. Still, he acquiesces, and puts his arms out as soon as he’s sitting, so Jason can put his bony ass on top of him, and tuck into his arms. 

Will, next to him, is making meaningful eyebrows at Percy from where Nico and Jason can’t see him, but Percy elects to ignore him, instead wrapping his arms tighter around Jason’s waist so he doesn’t tip off when he and Nico start their game. He lets himself have this for a second, leans his forehead into Jason’s back, between his shoulder blades, and just breathes.

Fuck, he wants to smoke.

Still it’s his house, and he’s gotta be a good host, or some shit, so he leans his head to the side to make eye contact with the girl sitting with Leo. “Hey,” he says, trying for his best All American Boy smile. “I’m Percy.”

She smiles at him sweetly. “Hi, I’m Calypso. It’s nice to meet you.” She’s way too, like, put together for Leo. She’s delicate, and Percy can see a grease stain on Leo’s shirt from here. Fucking MechEs. Still, Leo deserves nice things, and he seems happy, so Percy isn’t gonna comment. Maybe she’s also a MechE, and just hiding it better. 

“It’s nice to meet you too. What are you studying?”

She carries the conversation from there, telling him about her Fine Arts major with a concentration in like, weaving or some shit. He’s not really following, because he knows absolutely nothing about Fine Arts, but he asks followup questions when he can, and she seems to genuinely love what she’s studying, which is awesome.

Leo is, for lack of a better phrase, beaming at her while she talks, which is so sweet that Percy feels his heart twist a little. 

She asks him about his major in return, and he tries his hardest to not sound like a Boring Man who cares too much about a dead civilization, but she’s a good listener so he doesn’t feel that bad about being a little pretentious. Jason and Nico are yelling at each other, way too loudly for people who are sitting next to each other, but that’s nothing new so Percy tries his best to talk over them, flicking Jason in the stomach when he gets ridiculously loud.

When Nico and Jason finally finish their best of three, Hazel demands that Percy play her, and beats the shit out of him like she always does, quietly, and in an unassuming way, but still a little scary in her efficiency. 

Still, he blames the loss on Jason, for limiting his range of motion, and also his vision. Because he is who he is, Jason takes offense and claims the next game, so Percy can kick his ass. Unfortunately, he slides off Percy’s lap to do it, and Percy tries not to mourn the loss of warmth. Still, he doesn’t let it impact his gameplay, and wins easily, like always.

Leo and Frank are up next, yelling at each other in the way that always makes everyone a little uncomfortable, because no one can tell if they’re actually angry or just joking. Percy excuses himself, because it is actually getting a little late and he wants to sleep so he won’t be exhausted for the first day of class. Also, he doesn’t need to hear Leo and Frank yelling.

He changes into pajama pants and a sweatshirt before he pushes his window up as far as it’ll go, and sits on his bed so he can lean his whole torso out. He smokes, a little, just enough to get his mind a little blank, careful to get the smoke itself as far from the house as possible, so no one will come looking to share, before he crawls back in and goes to bed. 

The next week goes by so fast that he barely sees anyone from the house. He sees Annabeth, for lunch, and Piper, because she walked Annabeth to lunch, but that’s about it. He eats his other lunches alone, between classes and work. Dinner is rushed, trying to eat before he retires to his room to do homework for hours. It happens pretty much every semester, he gets out of the habit of doing work over the break, and when he’s back his brain refuses to focus, so it takes him twice as long to get anything done, for a while.

Expecting it doesn’t make him any less grumpy, when it happens. He fucking hates shutting himself in his room away from his boys. It makes the extrovert in him scream, but he does it every semester, until he gets back into the swing of things.

Friday night, Frank appears at his door, knocking gently before he sticks his head into Percy’s room. “Hey, man,” he says, quiet and gentle. “Let’s go to Crow tonight. The boys miss you, and you look too fucking serious, right now. That’s my job.”

He’s right, and Percy could really use a drink, so he grabs a random shirt out of his dresser, not bothering to change out of his jeans, and follows Frank down to the kitchen. As promised, the boys all let up a little cheer when they see him. Malcolm looks overwhelmingly relieved, and starts to head toward him which is kind of a lot. He forgets, so frequently, that he doesn’t just belong to himself. He’s basically Malcolm's school dad, he can’t just leave him alone to suffer through sophomore year.

He lets the boy tuck himself into his side for a second, plants a loud obnoxious kiss on his head. “Let’s get shwasted, yeah?”

The Crow basement is gross, and crowded. A wave of heat hits as soon as they get in, which is nice and welcoming. Nothing screams ‘home’ like a bunch of other people’s sweat. Malcolm stays by his side as they enter and shows no signs of branching off, so it looks like that’s what he’s doing tonight. 

It turns out that Malcolm’s been put into some gen ed class with a boy he was in love with despite having never spoken to last year, and wants to talk about it with his preferred elder gay. It’s not like Percy has any meaningful advice, but he tries his best, between sips of beer, to make suggestions like “ask him out” and “avoid him for the rest of your life,” to see if either type sticks. 

Malcolm seems to appreciate his efforts, at least. 

Apparently, the mixture of the Crows’ jungle juice and Percy’s advice has filled him with some new confidence, because as soon as a tall blond boy walks into the basement and bro-nods at him, Malcolm is gone, sidling over and handing the guy a cup with a smile. They grow up so fast, Percy thinks, watching his son wheel.

When it becomes clear that his advice will not be required for the rest of the night, he glances around until he sees some guys he knows from a class last semester, clustered by the keg. They’re happy to talk about the Sabres, and drunk enough to try and convince him that there’s any chance a team from New York will make it past the first round of playoffs. Eventually, he moves from them to a group of Alpha Sigs, and then to chat with Octavian, behind his makeshift DJ table. 

The guy is a douche, but he’ll usually play whatever is asked of him, and Percy thinks that if he doesn’t hear a TMG song in the next ten minutes he’ll die. 

By the time he’s finally convinced him to play anything that isn’t like, obscure shitty Soundcloud rappers, it’s almost midnight and he’s ready to bail. He’s an old man now, apparently, at least if Leo, shouting at him when he goes to leave, is to be believed. 

Still, he doesn’t want to get caught in the cleanup, and he’s not feeling a hook-up tonight, so he heads back to the house. The Stolls are there, apparently having skipped the party in favor of laying out their first prank of the semester. They rope him into helping, and by the time Leo, Calypso, Frank, Hazel, Will and Nico all stumble in together, every single piece of furniture on the first floor is wrapped in tinfoil.

The three of them have long since made it safely upstairs to avoid suspicion, so Percy hears rather than sees Nico’s groan of displeasure. Leo snickers a little, and Hazel laughs, bright and clear, probably because she knows this isn’t her problem to deal with. 

He falls asleep pretty quickly after that, mostly sober. His alarm rings at a horrible five in the morning, and he barely bothers to put real clothes on, just shoves his legs into swim trunks and then sweatpants over them. He doesn’t even go for a shirt, because he knows his Polar Plunge one is downstairs, and he’ll have to put it on anyway, at some point. 

Jason is already downstairs, sitting at the, now un-tinfoil-ed, kitchen table, behind a stack of light blue shirts. He tosses Percy his with a smile, gentle and a little sleepy. It’s ugly as shit, and also honestly one of his favorite shirts he’s ever gotten from Kappa Sig, and there’s a not insignificant amount. 

The blue is actually pretty nice, on its own, and the little design on the pocket, just the words ‘Kappa Sig Polar Plunge,’ with a little doodle of a polar bear under it. The back is the issue, a huge cartoon of a polar bear, in sunglasses, wearing a speedo and dipping one toe into a lake. The Kappa Sig letters are on the lenses of the sunglasses, in an awful shade of green. He’s throwing up a peace sign. 

Percy cannot emphasize how much he loves it. Even when it’s on, and he can’t see the cartoon any more, the memory of it haunts him, like it’s burned into his eyes. All he knows is this bear and his speedo. 

Unfortunately, the blue, like all blues, is fucking devastating on Jason. He looks incredible, much better than he should before six in the morning. That’s probably why he skipped the party last night, actually, so he could function for real in the morning. 

There’s a chair next to him at the table, and Percy takes it, accepting the cup of coffee that’s pushed into his hands. The next hour goes by fast, as they check off the attendance list in front of them, and make sure every guy who hasn’t called out from the cold gets his shirt and gets sorted into a car for transportation. 

The Alpha Sigs and everyone else outside the frat who signed up are meeting them there, so Percy’s car gets the box with the remaining t-shirts, as well as the towels, stuffed in the trunk. Will’s truck is going to have him, Nico, Frank and Leo. The Stolls have themselves, the rest of the guys who live in the house, and a few others. It’s just Jason and Percy in Percy’s car, so he doesn’t have any qualms about tossing Jason the keys.

He doesn’t usually let anyone drive his car if it’s not an emergency, but he’s too fucking tired to drive, and he trusts Jason. One of them was up drinking, and the other went to bed at a grandfatherly 10 pm. It’s a no-brainer. Plus, if Jason drives the hour up to the lake, Percy can catch an extra hour of sleep. 

It’s a whirlwind at the lake, making sure everyone who registered gets a shirt and gets set up. Annabeth comes over to say hi and between the two of them they manage to wrangle every Kappa Sig and Alpha Sig into one picture, that Frank happily takes instead of being in. It turns out good, everyone looking happy, if cold, in their matching horrible blue shirts and some mixture of sweatpants, swim trunks, and no pants. Some of the Alpha Sigs are throwing their letters, and some of the Kappa Sigs copy them, grinning widely. 

Jason’s next to him, in the picture. For some reason, he’s a little crouched, so Percy can get an arm around his shoulders for once. Jason’s got the Alpha Sig letters up, and right as the picture was taken Percy had leaned down to whisper “throw what you know, bro,” into his ear, so he’s fucking cackling. 

It’s not very presidential, but he looks beautiful in the early morning light, with a massive grin splitting his face. 

The lake, predictably, is very cold, and as soon as they’re done with the actual Plunge part of the event, Percy is throwing himself back into his car in search of a sweatshirt. When he can’t find one, he wants to die, a little bit. He’d just assumed there was some form of long sleeves in his car, either a sweatshirt, or a flannel, maybe. There usually is. 

He’s still hunting when Jason comes up behind him, already tucked into his beloved Kings sweatshirt. Jason stares at him in disbelief for a second, before fumbling in his bag and producing a worn Kappa Sig hoodie and tossing it at him.

“I didn’t think you’d actually forget a sweatshirt, dude,” he says, like it’s so hard to believe that Percy went unprepared for something.

“I wasn’t cold when we were leaving!” he reasons. It’s true. He’d been dry and hopped up on coffee and adrenaline, so his t-shirt had been enough to get him from the house to the car. 

Jason has shifted from looking at him in disbelief to looking at him in some kind of wonder. “You weren’t cold when we were leaving? What do you mean you weren’t cold when we were leaving? It’s January, bro.”

Again, like it’s so hard to believe that Percy went unprepared for something. 

At least he’s gotten the sweatshirt out of it, so he doesn’t bother arguing any further. He’s not cold anymore, just a little damp. The water’s probably gonna freeze in his hair, but that’s a problem for Later Percy. He pulls the hood up over his head to try to trap some of the heat, like that’ll work. It’s kind of nice that it’s bigger, made to fit Jason and not him. The hem falls a little further down his hips, and the sleeves hang long over his hands. 

Something occurs to him, though, and he turns back around to look at Jason, who’s making sure everyone has a ride home. “Jase,” he calls, and waits for him to turn around before he continues. “Why did you just have an extra in your bag?”

He’s blushing, a little, but he makes it sound like an insult when he replies. “Because I knew you would forget one, dude. Can’t let you get frostbite before we graduate.”

“Gotta take care of your boy!” Nico calls from where he’s climbing into Will’s truck. Jason splutters in response. 

Percy doesn’t have time to unpack that, so he just flips him off, and climbs into his car. It’s his sweatshirt now. He’s driving this time, finally awake from the cold water and the coffee. Jason slides into the passenger seat, toweling his hair off with the t-shirt. He pulls his glasses out of the glove compartment, and slides them back on, giving his eyes a chance to focus before he turns to look at Percy.

He offers Percy a fist bump, and he takes it, pushing their knuckles together for a half second longer than normal. “Feels like it went well, dude. I’m proud of us.”

It’s hard not to smile, at that. “Yeah, man. Happy second semester, babe.”

Jason tips back in his seat a little, and puts one hand out to fuck with the heater until it’s blasting into the car as high as it’ll go. “Happy second semester.”

They ended up raising a lot of money, actually, much more than they thought they would, so it takes most of the afternoon to figure out sending it over to the various charities. After everyone showers and warms up, they set up camp in the kitchen to work it out. 

It’s really nice, to have most of the guys he’s close to gathered in the same room, jostling each other and laughing as they type and make calls. Some of the younger guys wander in, to see how the numbers look and to solicit attention. Malcolm comes to sit by Percy’s chair for a while, leans his head into Percy’s thigh until he takes the hint and scratches at the boy’s hair.


	7. Chapter 7

Like always, it’s easier once he’s back in the swing of things. He sees Annabeth, once a week like clockwork. He starts hanging out with the guys most nights, like normal. They do homework, maybe a little less than they should, or play video games, or watch movies. It’s nice. Even with graduation hanging over their heads, it gets him out of his head. It’s easy to pull pranks around the house, or lay on the sofa and mock Frank and Leo for everything they do. He doesn’t have to think about it.

In February, he gets his decision from NYU. He’d applied to their history master’s program without telling anyone, not even his mom. Ever since he was little, people have been making fun of him for being ‘dumb.’ It started as real, genuine bullying, when he was really young, but when he started to be confident enough to stand up for himself, that stopped quickly enough. After that, it became his friends joking about it, because he did. 

It was almost worse, that way.

He’s always been smart, in an abstract way. He can’t pay attention in class, or work for an extended sitting, or complete tasks the way that most people do, but that doesn’t make him dumb. It took a long time to realize that, and by the time he did, everyone he knew would make jokes about it. They never meant it in a bad way, but, still. That’s the kind of shit that gets ingrained in your head, that you’re not good enough because your brain doesn’t work the same way as other people’s.

It’s why he didn’t tell anyone he applied to NYU, because he didn’t want them to have the satisfaction of making jokes about him not getting in. Most of the guys wouldn’t, he’s pretty sure, but it’s still a fear in the back of his head, that Jason or Frank would turn to him with a devastating look on their face, and say “What, you thought you had a chance?” or something equally awful.

They would never, but he can’t convince himself of that, not 100 percent.

He calls his mom first, at dinner time when he knows she and Paul will both be home. She lets him make small talk for a few minutes before she cuts him off, politely, but still with a take-no-shit tone to her voice. “Percy,” she says, and he wants to be home so bad that he could scream. “What’s really going on? You don’t usually call like this.”

He takes a breath and clenches his hand around the juul he’s holding, like it’ll give him some kind of comfort. They’ll recognize the crackle, so he can’t hit it, but he can still feel the cool metal until he stops feeling like he’s gonna pass out. “Can you put me on speakerphone? I have something I want to tell all of you.”

He hears the confusion and worry in her intake of breath, but he hears the shift in the background noise, that signifies that she’s actually done it. “Yeah, go ahead sweetheart.”

One more breath. “So, I applied to NYU a while ago, for their master’s program. Uh, they have a pretty good one here, but I was thinking about wanting to get another change of scenery, before I decide where I want to like, live, you know?”

“Yeah, bud,” Paul says, voice impossibly steady and quiet, like he has no idea where Percy’s going with this, but wants to be supportive either way. “That’s really smart.”

“So, I applied a while ago, and they just emailed me back, with the decision.” One more breath, deep into his lungs. “And I got in.”

His mom yells, a little bit. It crackles through the phone, and he can hear Paul clapping, and his sister’s little whoops in the background. 

“God, I’m so proud of you, kid.” Paul says, and the smile in his voice is audible, even through the phone. “Of course you got in, they’re so lucky to have you.”

“That’s incredible, Perce,” his mom says, and he wants to cry so fucking badly but he won’t because he’s 21, and an adult, and he’s bigger than crying over things like this. “Smartest son I got,” she adds, just to make him laugh. “I love you.”

Estelle probably has no idea what a master’s program is, but she’s happy to blabber into the phone about it, anyway. His mom pauses her for a second, long enough to explain that it means Percy is moving back to the city, and she screams loud and bright, directly into the phone.

“Perce! Home!”

“Yeah, bud,” he says, letting the tears leak out of his eyes, just a little. “I’m coming home.”

He tells the boys, next. It’s just the e-board (plus Nico) gathered in the kitchen that night, shooting the shit while Nico and Leo work together to come up with some incredibly not cohesive, but still delicious, meal. Will’s sitting on the island, where Nico can come over and kiss his cheek in between tasks. Frank is on the far left stool, with Percy in the middle and Jason on the right.

As far as he knows, Frank’s plan for the next year is to get a full time job with the company he’s been interning at. He likes the area, and wants to stay in the States for a little while until he decides if he wants to pack up and head to Canada again. Jason has no idea yet, or if he does, he’s been playing it pretty close to his chest. 

“Hey, y’all,” he says, in the middle of some conversation about the cute TA in one of Nico’s classes, who may or may not be a Gamma. 

Immediately, they wheel on him. Frank slams a hand on the island, loud and dramatic, as Leo reaches into the cabinet for a jar. 

“That’s a fine, dude!” Jason crows, like it’s the best thing that’s happened to him all day. “Saying y’all if your home state is not below the Mason-Dixon line, that’s two dollars in the jar. Embarrassing, dude. Real rough look for you.”

Leo is waving the jar under his nose, so Percy groans and goes for his phone. “Okay, I am venmoing the jar, because I never have cash, obviously, because I’m not a thousand years old, Jason.” He looks at the other boy pointedly, because the only cash in the jar is from him. He has a real wallet, and everything. Unfortunately @Kappa-Sig-Jar is one of his first suggestions when he opens the app, which says nothing good about his ability to follow their bylaws.

“Anyway, I do actually have an announcement.” He loses his nerve to say it, pretty much as soon as he gets their attention. Even Nico and Leo have stopped clattering around on the stovetop. Will has spun in a circle, so he can face Percy. His legs dangle pretty much into Frank’s lap, but the other boy is magnanimously ignoring them. 

He hits his juul, because he feels like he’s glowing a little bit, and also shaking at the same time. He’s an enigma of a man. Jason rolls his eyes and tugs it out of his hand, sticks it behind his own ear like that isn’t fucking nasty. It was in his mouth, dude.

“What’s up, babe?” he says, like he doesn’t have Percy’s spit in his hair. Seriously, it’s gross.

“So, I was thinking about master’s programs, for this fall. And I applied to one, because I wanted to see if I could get in, but also ‘cause it’s a good one, you know. It looked like it would be a good fit.” They’re all looking at him, encouraging and warm. He can’t believe that he was afraid to tell them he applied. “And they just emailed me, to let me know,” he raps his knuckles on the island once, “uh, I got into NYU.”

Will fucking yells, from his place on the counter, and Frank slaps him on the back, several times, enough to knock most of the wind out of him. Jason roars “fuck yeah you did!” before shoving Frank’s hand out of the way so he can wrap himself around Percy’s body like a monkey. Leo is whooping from his place by the counter, and Nico is grinning at them, much happier looking than he usually lets himself be in front of people. 

Jason is still holding him when Will and Leo make it to where they are, and they wrap their arms around both of them, squeezing him even tighter. Frank slides off his stool so he can get all of them in his own arms, and Nico slinks over, like he doesn’t want to be seen showing affection but can’t help himself.

He can’t fucking breathe, at all, but he doesn’t really need to right now. All he needs to do is let the guys squeeze the life out of him, because he fucking got into NYU, because he’s smart as fuck, and he earned it. He is not going to cry about this, again. 

They let him go, eventually, but they’re all still talking over each other in excitement. Jason is back on his own stool, but he’s scooted it closer to Percy’s so he can keep an arm wrapped around his shoulders as they talk. There’s like a fifty percent chance that Percy is going to shake out of his skin about everything that’s happening right now, but he’s holding it together. 

He’s not even listening to them, really, just letting himself bask in the moment. It takes Jason tapping his shoulder a couple times for him to focus back in, but he looks over to see him smiling back, like he can’t believe he’s a part of this either. “You gonna move back in with your parents?”

Percy’s been thinking about that for a while, if he wants to try and save up money by staying there for a year. They’d let him, for sure, and his mom would be excited to have him, but he’d go nuts if he was under that kind of supervision again. His favorite thing in the entire world is smoking out the window in his boxers, and Sally Jackson is not into that. 

“Probably not,” he says. “Honestly, I have okay savings from working summers and I can get my old job back if I’m staying in the city. That’s decent hours, so if I get a couple roommates, I should be okay. I like having my own place.”

“And you get to be back in your city,” Jason says, like he can hear every thought Percy’s ever had about missing the traffic noise and the subway.

“And I get to be back in my city.”

***

Grover comes to visit in early March. It’s his spring break, so he’s heading west for a few days and then heading to camp in the Adirondacks for the rest of the week with his girlfriend, like it isn’t supposed to snow. Probably his super conservationist energy gives him some kind of resistance to the snow. That’s the best explanation Percy can come up with. 

He gets there in the middle of the night Thursday, late enough that all Percy can do is let him into the house, and lead him up to his room so they can crash. They wake up spooning, Percy wrapped around Grover’s back, trapping him against the window. 

He has one class on Fridays, but he’s already decided that he’d skip it this week, to maximize Grover Time. They don’t make it out of bed until after 11, and then they lose another half hour to smoking. It feels like high school, pressed together and leaning out a window. They used to do it on Percy’s fire escape when it was nice out and his parents weren’t home, so they could pretend they were adults with their own apartment, and no one could tell them what to do. It’s even the same pipe, blue and green glass that he’s had for almost six years. 

They’re downstairs by noon, in search of any kind of snack. Percy barely cooks sober, and he’s sure as fuck not gonna try it while he’s high, so they’re limited to prepackaged shit. Still, he’s stocked up for this. He went to Wegmans and everything. 

The kitchen has Will and Nico in it, because they hang out almost exclusively in there, it seems. For once, Will is cooking while Nico supervises from the island. When Percy walks in, Nico spins to look at him. “Saw the car this morning, Perce. Is there a gentleman caller, a male guest, perhaps?”

Percy squints at him, because he has no idea how to approach this. Like, technically, Grover is a male guest, but not in the way Nico is implying. Still, he’s too high to even try to explain that, and Grover isn’t much better, so he just kind of hopes Nico will catch on before he says more dumb shit. 

Luckily, he can see the recognition flash across Nico’s face, before he extends a hand for a bro-hug. “Oh, shit! Sorry man, I barely recognized you. It’s been too long.”

Grover leans into the hug, and manages the required pleasantries while Percy goes in search of something to eat. They’re talking about Will’s major and Percy has his entire head in the pantry when he hears the front door open and the telltale pat-pat-pat of Jupiter’s feet on tile to announce Jason’s presence. 

“Hey, guys, who’s that car out front? I don’t recognize it, but it’s got New York plates.”

Nico, because he’s a horrible little gremlin boy, says with glee in his voice, “I don’t know man, I think Percy had a dude over last night.”

Jason inhales audibly, and gets a hint of jealousy in his voice before he starts talking again. “Like, had a dude over last night?” There’s a dumb amount of emphasis on the word dude, like anyone isn’t clear on what Nico was implying. 

Grover, because he’s the greatest man in the world, and also Percy’s best friend, apparently takes this time to turn around and let Jason see who he is. “I mean, had me over last night.” It’s not his most impressive sentence construction, but he can definitely be excused from that based on the amount of weed they’ve already consumed today. 

Percy is still hiding in the pantry, but he can hear them dap each other up, and then Jason, sounding much more cheerful, go “Hey, dude! I forgot you were coming this weekend. How was the drive?”

There’s a bag of smartfood popcorn, so he grabs that and emerges into the real world again, pulling himself up onto a stool and finishing approximately half the bag before he slides it over to Grover. He jerks his chin at Jason, in the best approximation of a bro-nod he can manage before turning his attention to Jupiter, waiting patiently at his feet, like he knows he’s gonna get pet at some point. 

It’s unseasonably warm out today, so when Grover and Jason have caught up on everything that’s happened in each other’s lives since the last time they talked, Percy drags him out of the house to go for a walk. It’s like 45, so he hasn’t even bothered to put real pants on, just basking in the sun in gym shorts and a sweatshirt. Grover is wearing sweatpants and a flannel, so he’s not that much better. 

They get at least one muttered “fucking frat boys,” and several more looks that are clearly meant to imply the same message, but it’s nice out and fuck if Percy’s gonna waste that opportunity. 

Grover’s already seen the campus, but they do a lap all the way around it anyway, just being in each other’s company. Apparently, Grover’s thinking about asking his girlfriend if she wants to move in together, and he wants advice, so they talk it through two, three times. 

He’s met Juniper a bunch of times by now, over previous winter breaks and over the summer, when she comes to visit Grover in the city. They’re stupid perfect for each other, all finishing each other’s sentences and similar interests. It’s a little sickening, and he loves it for Grover. 

The nonprofit he worked for in the summer has offered him a job, which is awesome. It means living in the city again, and a decently paying entry-level job, which is much more than most people can ask for. Juniper is going to be getting some master’s at Columbia, so he’s trying to figure out if he should just bite the bullet and ask her to look for one-bedrooms with him. 

She’s going to say yes, Percy is a hundred percent sure. They’ve been together for three years, and at this point she’d probably go ahead and say yes to a proposal too. He doesn’t want to freak Grover out though, so he keeps that to himself. 

It’s really nice to see him this happy, and confident in himself and his relationship. He wishes for a second that he could go back to the two of them in high school, and explain that it was going to be fine, they were going to go to good schools and get jobs and have relationships. 

By the time they get back to the house, it’s actually nice enough to just sit outside, instead of walking continuously to keep warm, so they head up to Percy’s room and climb out through the window onto the roof. He pulls a blanket off his bed, just in case, but the sun feels incredible on his face, so he stretches out without it, closing his eyes against the glare. 

It makes him vulnerable though, too warm and comfortable to dodge the question when Grover rolls over to look at him and gives him an all-knowing look. “Jason seemed upset when he thought you had a guy over. Anything you want to say about that?”

“Nope.” 

“So, he would have no reason to be jealous if we were hooking up?”

“Nope.”

“Fuck, dude, I thought you would’ve gotten this out of your system after Halloween. Couples costumes and everything, for the love of God.”

Apparently, he never remembered to tell Grover what happened on Halloween. He’d been too busy freaking out about it, and then immediately repressing it, most likely. He explains it now, careful to make sure the door to his room is shut and no one else is visible in their windows to overhear. 

“Wow, okay,” Grover says, looking like he’s considering all the new information. “I mean, he still made out with you, in a weird possessive way. That probably means he’d like to do it again, even if he doesn’t remember the first one.”

“You don’t know that,” he groans, putting one forearm over his eyes. “Maybe he was just horny, and I was there.”

“I feel like if he was just horny, he wouldn’t have said that caveman shit though, you know? That’s just for you.”

“It wasn’t like, that caveman-y. He’s just like that, with his friends. He likes to take care of people.”

He can feel Grover looking at him, so he very pointedly does not remove his arm from over his eyes. He doesn’t want to be a part of this. 

“Yeah, and you think it’s hot.”

“I do not think it’s hot,” he tries, sitting up to defend his own honor. It even sounds like a lie to him, and Grover obviously knows better than to fall for it.

Grover won’t even give him the dignity of pretending to argue about this. He stays where he is, head propped on one arm. “You should talk to him. He clearly likes you, and I know you’ve been in love with him for like three years.”

He’s not gonna win this, so he hits his juul instead, so he won’t have to talk. 

Grover lets him get away with that, but manages to get in one more point before they table it for the time being. “That sweatshirt’s kind of big for you, dude. Sure it’s yours?”

It’s Jason’s, from the Polar Plunge, and Grover obviously just wants to be a dick about it, because there’s no way he can miss the tiny “Grace” embroidered on the sleeve. It’s whatever. 

They rally to head to Pi Kapp around 11, most of e-board and then Annabeth, Piper and Hazel. Annabeth and Grover have gotten along like a house on fire ever since they first met, fall break of freshman year. She leaps into his arms and he spins her around, laughing. They all head over together, and the pledge at the door only looks like he’s going to give Grover trouble for a second, before Percy and Annabeth both muster the best indignant looks they can. 

He usually hates being even kind of rude to pledges, but he doesn’t want to stand outside and argue a case for why they should be allowed a plus one. It’s easier to just throw his weight around than to wait for Dakota to come out and get them in.

Grover doesn’t really party at his own school, because it’s much more of a stoner scene. Still he’s never been opposed to coming with Percy, or occasionally making appearances at a ‘Cuse party if someone drags him along. He’s still been to enough to immediately pick up on the problem, and leans in to talk the pledge as they pass. “I have a girlfriend, man. Promise I won’t fuck with the ratio.”

They split up as soon as they’re inside. Grover gets really into games, always, so he’s heading for the beer pong table, dragging Percy behind him. Jason, Leo, Piper and Annabeth are heading towards the bar, with Annabeth making a face at whatever Leo’s saying, like she can’t believe he’s anywhere near her. 

They lose spectacularly, several times in a row, until some girls Percy doesn’t know jostle them out of the lineup to take their turn. No one is anywhere to be found, so they head over to where some of the guys he knows from hockey are hanging out. They’re all dancing in the horrible, uncoordinated way that every hockey bro in the world dances, but they still look like they’re having fun, which is good enough.

There’s some girls there, none that he knows, but one makes eye contact with him and heads over to dance a little closer. He’s sober, so he lets her do her thing in front of him, and adopts his practiced Standing Still and Respecting Her Personal Boundaries By Not Touching Her stance. He’s always erred on the side of caution on that one, because he has too many girl friends who have been made uncomfortable at parties or at clubs, and fuck if he’s gonna contribute to that problem.

She puts his hands on her hips, and he lets her, but doesn’t pull her closer until she steps all the way into his space. 

Frank makes fun of him for not being able to dance, but that’s not quite true. He doesn’t know how to dance in a way that doesn’t scream frat boy. He can do this, hold onto a girl as she grinds on him or whatever. That’s easy. He just can’t dance in a way that would be attractive to anyone who isn’t a drunk straight girl, so when he tries to do that is when he starts to look like an idiot. 

Grover’s laughing at him, a little, because he was the one Percy drunkenly called freshman year, because he didn’t know how to dance like a boy at a party. It’s character growth, that he can do it now. And several more years of testosterone shots, probably. But mostly the first thing. 

He likes girls, even if he’s been pretty focused on Jason for most of this year, and she doesn’t seem that drunk, so he lets her kiss him a little, but stops her when she starts to pull him out of the crowd. “Sorry, I’m not feeling it tonight. Good luck, though,” he tries, hoping she’ll be cool about it. 

“Thanks, babe,” she says, leaning in to kiss him one more time, “have a good night!”

He calls a “you too!” after her, even if she’s probably long gone. 

Annabeth is by the bar when they head over, and tosses him a beer before he even gets close. “Jason saw you kiss that girl,” she says, looking a little disappointed in him. 

“Yeah, and?” he says, more focused on trying to open the can than paying attention to the conversation. It’s a fucking Natty Light seltzer apparently, probably because she’s disappointed in him. 

She watches him fuck with it for a second before she grabs it back and pokes a hole in the bottom with a practiced motion, before shoving it over his mouth and opening the other end. He shotguns it obediently, before looking at her in amazement. “Dude, if I didn’t think it would undo all the personal growth we’ve had since we broke up, I would make out with you. That was hot as fuck.”

She flips him off, but she looks pleased. “I know.”

It gets a little blurry after that, because Grover drags him to find the smoke room, and then they go shotgun a couple more beers each downstairs. Leo definitely joins them for a couple, because he loves that shit.

They make it back to the house, at some point, and miraculously end up back in Percy’s bed. Even more miraculously, neither of them is too hungover when they wake up. 

Jason is clearly not so lucky, because he’s passed out on the couch again. Percy doesn’t even leave a note this time, just grabs his dog and goes to hang out in the backyard with Grover and Jupiter. Jupiter is overjoyed to chase his tennis ball, and they wear him out a little, before heading back in and letting him resume his position by Jason’s side. The guy has not moved. 

They make eggs, the one thing Percy can reliably make, and Grover ribs him mercilessly for being so passive about a girl making out with him.

“You didn’t even move, she just came up to you and did it. How have you possibly gotten that much more confident since high school, that you have that aura now. I don’t get it.”

“I don’t know, man,” he says, mostly focused on not messing up the omelette. “Maybe she likes short dudes who will respect her personal space.”

“You’re like 5’8” can you even claim being a short dude? Like where’s the line, you know. Am I a short dude?”

Grover is 5’9” on a good day, which is still below average. Percy tells him so, and watches him try to formulate an argument. They’re still bickering about it when Jason drags himself into the kitchen and lowers himself down next to Grover.

“Morning, y-” he starts, before blinking his eyes a few times and starting again. “Morning, guys.”

It’s suspicious, but it takes a second to put the pieces together. “You!” Percy yells, way too loud for how early it is, but he has to make his point. “That was almost a ‘y’all’ I heard it!”

Grover clearly has no idea what they’re talking about, but he nods his head supportively. “Almost a y’all, for sure.”

Jason groans, but slaps his wallet onto the counter. “Just take it, dude.”

Percy does. “You want eggs, though?”

He nods, and lets his eyes close a little. “Please. You’re the best.”

They eat the omelettes, pretty much silently until more guys start to trickle downstairs. Some of them fend for themselves, but the Stolls look at Percy pleadingly until he throws some on for them, and Malcolm does the same. 

They play Mario Kart for most of the day, guys switching in and out as they come and go through the house. Percy’s just happy to have Grover there, taking up space and beating the shit out of him every time they’re on different teams. 

Some of the guys leave to go to Crow once it’s late enough, but Grover is supposed to leave early in the morning to get Juniper for their camping trip, so they beg off and head up to Percy’s room. 

Neither of them are awake enough to do anything besides watch a movie, so they lay on the bed and pull up some shitty movie on Percy’s laptop. Neither of them makes it through the first half, because they’re old now, apparently.

Grover’s alarm wakes them up at nine, and Percy’s back protests as he sits up to turn it off. They’d fallen asleep mostly sitting up, and somehow ended up slumped down over each other, in a way that people definitely aren’t supposed to be able to bend. His laptop is still on the bed, which is good because he has nowhere near enough money to even think about replacing it if it broke. 

They hunt down toast in the kitchen once they’re both dressed, and Grover’s on the road by ten. Percy watches him back out of the driveway, and tries not to be too sad about it. It sucks that they only got a few days, but it’s better than only seeing him over facetime so he’ll take what he can get. 

Frank is hanging out in the kitchen, getting a start on homework or something, it looks like, so Percy pulls up a chair and puts his forehead on the table next to him. Because he’s a spectacular friend, Frank pets his hair absentmindedly while he works. Percy doesn’t even have to ask.

Eventually, he gets tired of being useless and goes in search of his own computer, to at least pretend to be working on one of his essays. There’s a lot of essays involved in being a humanities major. Someone should’ve warned him. He slides his phone across the table, into Frank’s line of vision, and the other boy tucks it into his hoodie pocket without even acknowledging it. It’s a good system, to make sure he doesn’t lose hours of homework time dicking around on instagram, or whatever. They’ve been doing it for years, sometimes Frank, sometimes Jason or Will. 

Frank is reading some of his writing out loud, to see if it makes sense to someone who isn’t in his military history class, and Percy is listening and trying to pretend he cares about the expansion of the Roman Empire. He does, academically, think the Roman Empire is super interesting, but in his experience people who love Roman history are the same people who say they love history but actually only care about, like, World War II. They’re usually boring, and prejudiced, to boot. 

Still, Frank isn’t like them, so he’s suspending his usual judgements and trying to listen with just his History Major hat on. 

Jason appears, SPQR tattoo visible under his rolled-up flannel sleeve, like someone talking about Roman military formations just automatically summons him, and pitches additional research ideas until Frank has enough for his paper. He gets a pass, too, because he only knows about Roman history from his dad, who is absolutely one of the Roman Empire/World War II fanboys that Percy hates so much. 

When he’s done helping Frank (completely unsolicitedly), he leans over to see what Percy’s working on and grimaces when he sees what’s up on his screen. “What the fuck is that, dude. Is that even English?”

It’s not. “It’s for my marine bio class,” he says, gesturing kind of uselessly at the diagrams of rivers on his screen. “We have to read research from a ‘different perspective,’ than American or European, so I’m looking at a paper on the dolphins in the Amazon.” 

Jason is looking at him like he has three heads. “What-” and he seems like he has no idea where to go from there. “What language are you reading, right now?”

“Portuguese.” 

“Do you speak Portuguese? Like, for real?”

“Yeah, bud. You definitely heard me speaking it with my mom, when you were in New York.” Correction, she only speaks Portuguese if she’s serious about something, or if she’s yelling cooking directions to Percy from the other side of their kitchen.

“I thought that was Spanish.” Jason Grace is a fucking himbo, you heard it here first.

“My mom’s family is from Brazil though? Like, you definitely knew that.”

“Huh,” he says, looking much more confused than he usually does. “Cool.”

Frank is trying his very best to not crack up in the background, and Percy is grateful for his attempts. If Frank loses it, he will too, and he doesn’t want to make Jason feel too bad. Kind of bad, sure, because he should definitely know that it’s Portuguese, but also not that bad because he’s gotta be embarrassed. He’ll rag on him more later. 

Jason’s got a paper too, apparently, something about how to arrange the “historic” part of a city. Percy still has no idea what civil engineering really is, but that’s what it sounds like. They all settle in for the long haul, only breaking for lunch when Leo drags his hungover ass out of bed to demand that they all order pizza. 

Percy finishes his rough draft around five, and heads to the gym for a while, just so he can get his mind off the amount of work he still has to do before they leave for spring break. He’s got one more essay, and a few discussion posts, which doesn’t sound that bad except for the amount of reading he has to do before he can write the posts. He’ll survive, but it won’t be fun.

He usually leaves his phone in his locker when he’s at the gym, but he wants to listen to music today so he keeps it out, tucked into the pocket of his basketball shorts. Unfortunately, he doesn’t remember to turn vibrate off, so it starts going off as soon as he steps off the treadmill to move to the main part of his workout. He’s distracted trying to turn it off, so he doesn’t see Mark from the halloween party coming up until it’s too late.

“Hey!” he says, looking much more cheerful and confident than he did when faced with a drunk and touchy Jason. “You’re Annabeth’s friend, right? Percy?”

“Yeah, hey man. How are you?”

“I’m good, I’m good. Are you still seeing that guy, from the party?”

It’s kind of a non-sequitur, like he’s been practicing this in case he ran into Percy again. That’s a little bit of a scary thought. “Who, Jason?”

“The big blond guy? Yeah.”

Percy, quite frankly, has no idea to respond to this. Technically, no, but he’s not sure if he wants to tell the guy that. He was nice enough at the party, but Percy and Jason’s relationship has only gotten more complicated since then, and this feels like a surefire way to throw a wrench into whatever’s happening. 

“Uh, kind of, yeah.”

The guy looks disappointed, but not surprised. “Nevermind, then. I was gonna see if you wanted to go out, some time.”

“I’m gonna be out on that one, but thanks for asking, dude. You seem like a nice guy.” Annabeth has been making fun of him, the entire time they’ve known each other, for not being able to turn someone down without feeling bad, or trying to make them feel better. It’s a character flaw, for sure, and he can hear her making fun of him in his head. 

“No worries, man,” Mark says, disappearing somewhere into the squat racks. 

He finally manages to mute his phone, and goes through the rest of the workout more or less on autopilot. It’s probably stupid to turn people down because of Jason, like there’s anything there, but still. He can’t imagine bringing a guy into the house, in front of the guys, and having all of them, at least the upperclassmen, know that it’s just a rebound off his ridiculous crush on their president. Jason probably wouldn’t care, except to be weird and possessive about him, like he is with everyone in the house. 

He’s sweaty as fuck when he’s done, and he feels it more or less freeze on his face as he walks back to the house. He still won’t shower in the gym, the trans fear of being hatecrimed too ingrained in him to trust the other guys. 

Apparently, all the texts were from the spring break trip group chat, which is him, Jason, Piper, Annabeth, Leo, Frank, Hazel, Will, and Nico. They’re staying at Piper’s house in Malibu for the week, because her dad is going to be out of town filming something so they can have it all to themselves. All of their flights are at different times, because of class schedules, so Piper is trying to figure out who’s getting there first, and should be in charge of the keys.

It’s gonna be Annabeth and Percy, because she doesn’t have any classes on Fridays, and he doesn’t care about his class on Friday, so they’re flying out Thursday night, hopefully there by midnight Pacific time. Jason, Leo, Piper, Frank and Hazel have a flight at noon on Friday, so they’ll be there by the afternoon, and then Will and Nico are leaving later Friday night. 

They’ve split the rooms up in a little bit of a sad way, with Piper in her own bedroom, Frank and Hazel together, Will and Nico together, and then Annabeth, Percy, Jason and Leo also by themselves. The house has enough rooms that they can do that, which is fucking wild to Percy, but he keeps it to himself.

In the middle of all the discussion about flight times (only confusing because Annabeth is busy and Percy was working out, so neither of them could confirm that they had the earliest flight), Hazel has sent the eyes emoji to the chat, along with a picture of Percy talking to Mark in the gym. It’s a little incriminating, or would have been if they’d done anything, because Mark is leaning close to him, like he wants to force Percy to look up at him. 

Piper had responded immediately, a “get it percy!!” and Frank had chimed in with a set of eye emojis of his own. Leo emphasized the picture. 

When he walks back into the house, several pairs of eyes turn to him, probably because they want to continue their mocking, but he ignores them in favor of a quick shower, so he can at least not be disgusting when he gets ripped to shreds. 

He’s mostly packed by Tuesday night, excluding shit that he’ll need in the next few days, like his laptop and toiletries. The duffel bag is just sitting at the foot of his bed, mocking him, while he gets dressed for the barely above freezing weather. He’s east coast all the way through, but there’s something to be said for year-round sun. 

He gets back from class on Wednesday to a box sitting on the table, addressed to him. The return address is his parents’ apartment, but they hadn’t told him to expect anything, so he squints at it suspiciously as he hunts for a knife or scissors. When he finally finds them, he cuts it open to see a bunch of tissue paper, covering whatever’s in it. It’s purple and grey, which seems important but he’s not sure why.

When he tears through that, it’s a note in his mom’s handwriting, covering most of the page. He puts it to the side, so he can get at the actual package. It’s an NYU sweatshirt, gray and soft with the logo in purple across the chest. She must have gone to the actual bookstore to get it, and he holds it up to his face for a second, like there’s any chance it’ll still smell like her. 

The note is sweet, about a page talking about how nice the people at the bookstore were, and how excited she is to have him in the city again. There’s a line towards the bottom, about how she got it a size too big, just in case, which doesn’t make a lot of sense, but he tucks it into his pocket anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every thought Percy has in this chapter about his academic abilities is based on my own experience with ADHD in every level of schooling. It's not meant to represent any actual criticism of his academics, just a representation of his own feelings about it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was my favorite chapter to write, and I think it shows. TW for needles, more description in end notes.

Annabeth comes over Thursday morning, to drop her shit off in Percy’s room before classes. He barely gets through the day, too busy thinking about how bad he wants to be in California already, but he makes it, and is back in the house by six, to throw together dinner before they head to the airport. 

Annabeth is already there, chatting with Will about some museum she wants to go to in LA. She kisses his forehead as he walks past her, and lets him drop his backpack before she asks, in the voice she knows damn well he can’t just ignore, “So, what’s for dinner?”

It’s eggs, obviously, because that’s the only thing he can cook with any semblance of dignity, and as much as he pretends to resent her for coming over to make him cook, instead of feeding herself at her own house and then coming by, he knew she’d be here and had already taken the right amount out for both of them.

They joke around while he monitors them on the stove, and when he plates them in front of her she beams. “Absolutely perfect. Total house husband material, in case you’re wondering.”

He pushes her face away from him, gently, and digs in. 

Jason arrives at some point, the person designated to take them to the airport because he’s the only one allowed to drive Percy’s car, and bitches about them being too slow to get ready, and how they’re gonna miss their flight. 

They’re absolutely not going to miss their flight, because the airport is tiny, and it only takes like ten minutes to get through security. Percy takes his sweet time making sure he has all of his bags, just to piss him off.

He’s wearing his NYU sweatshirt for the flight, because he still feels like it isn’t real and wants to bask in it a little. They both smile at him when he comes back downstairs with it on, and Annabeth tugs on his sleeve a little. “It looks good on you, Seaweed Brain.”

They’re at the gate by 7, because the airport is tiny, and take off by 7:30. They watch Hercules on the plane, because there’s only a couple movies actually downloaded on his computer, and it’s the only one they can agree on. He’s always hated flying, but he focuses on the movie as much as he can, making fun of the costumes and letting Annabeth quietly sing along in his ear. That gets them most of the way to North Carolina, where there’s a plane change and a layover. 

He lets Annabeth take charge of finding them snacks and a place to sit, because he’s kind of exhausted, all of a sudden. She comes back with hot chocolate for both of them, and lets him drop his head into her lap and doze a little bit while she reads a book and listens for the announcement to board their next plane. 

Because she’s a goddess, probably, she wakes him up to get on the next plane, but lets him pass out on her shoulder as soon as they board. It’s like six hours from Charlotte to LA, and he sleeps through most of it, which is probably a terrible idea in terms of not being jet lagged, but is a great idea in terms of not being bored for six hours. 

She’s fallen asleep too, by the time they land, because when he wakes up to the impact of the plane on the landing strip, her head is heavy on top of his. He shakes her awake, and gets them to baggage claim more or less in one piece. Her Yankees hat is pulled tight over her eyes, and she doesn’t really look conscious, but her legs are moving and keeping her upright which is good enough. 

He calls a Lyft once they have their bags, and it’s another forty minutes or so before they can get into Piper’s house and drop their shit off. She didn’t really explain who’s rooms were who’s besides which was hers and which was the master, so they just throw their bags in random rooms, next to each other. 

Unfortunately, neither of them is really tired anymore, because of all the sleep on the plane. It’s weird to be in a house that neither of them knows, alone at night, so they regroup on the couch, all the lights on. He shoots a text to the group chat to let them know that they landed safely, even though it’s like four am in New York, and no one will see it for a few hours. 

They end up at the beach, still in their plane clothes, but with sandals instead of sneakers. It’s beautiful, even if there’s too much light pollution to see much of the stars, and they just wander back and forth a little bit, trying to tire themselves out. It’s wild to think that it’s a different ocean than the one he’s been looking at his whole life, and he can barely wrap his head around it. 

They both pass out in Percy’s room, because even if Annabeth won’t admit it, they’re both a little too freaked out being the only people in this house to sleep alone. There’s a bunch of texts in the group chat when they wake up, mostly confirming flight details for the people in New York, but Piper has sent them directions to a brunch place she likes, and the code for the garage so they can get her car out to go forage for food. 

It’s a nice place, even if the prices seem way too high for the amount of food they get. Still, they hadn’t felt like going shopping so it’s the best they can really ask for. They get to eat outside and everything, at a little table next to the sidewalk. It’s 65 and sunny, which is warm enough after being in the frozen north that they’re both in shorts, and the sun feels incredible against Percy’s skin. 

People are looking at them like they’re nuts, because every real California resident around them has at least jeans and a long sleeve shirt on, but it’s too nice to pay attention to that. Annabeth posts a picture on her instagram story of Percy reclining in his chair, a mimosa in one hand and his sunglasses on, shirt unbuttoned as low as he could get it without her mocking him for setting a thirst trap.

She’s captioned it “he’s already gone native” with several flame emojis. It’s a good picture actually, his skin is glowing in the sun and you can see his tattoo poking out from the sleeve of his shirt. He puts it on his own story and orders another mimosa. 

Apparently, she sent it to their group chat too, because Will texts them back with a picture of Nico, bundled up so only his eyes are visible, sitting shotgun in Will’s truck. “Just dropped everyone else at the airport,” he responds with a smiley face. “One more class to go and then we’re en route.”

Piper sends them a selfie of the rest of them crowded together at the gate for their plane, Leo on Jason’s lap so that they’ll all fit in the picture. “Boarding soon, babes. You’re good to pick us up at the airport?”

Annabeth looks at Percy searchingly for a second before she responds. “Yeah, I’m gonna make sure Percy sobers up by then so he can drive. I’m not touching LA traffic.”

It’s a little offensive to imply that he’s gonna be drunk after brunch, even if that was his whole plan, but he takes it in stride and sends a thumbs up of his own to the chat. 

“Hey,” Annabeth says, waiting until he looks up from his phone until she continues. “I actually did have news that I wanted to tell you.”

It’s not going to be that she’s dating Piper, but wow does he want it to be. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“So I didn’t tell you when you got into NYU, because I didn’t want to take away from your moment, but I also applied to a couple grad programs in New York,” there’s already a little pride evident in her voice, and this is the Annabeth that he’s always loved the most, the self-assured, confident one, who knows exactly how smart she is and how much she’s worth. “And I heard back from Columbia, a little while ago. They want me, for their architecture program.”

“Fuck, Annabeth that’s awesome! Are you gonna go?” That’s almost more than he could ask for, to actually end up with one of his best friends in the same city as him, after graduation. He’s been anxious about it for months, that after they graduate they’ll all end up in different places, and he won’t be able to see any of them for months at a time. To have even one person in the same city, that’s a dream come true.

“Yeah,” she says, the smile still huge on her face. “I’m going to.”

He squeezes her hand across the table, so he can hold onto her for another minute. “That’s so great. Congrats, dude.”

They shoot the shit about apartment shopping for the rest of brunch, until the waiter starts looking like he’s gonna have to kick them out to give the table to someone else. Annabeth drives them back to the house, because she had only one mimosa to Percy’s four. It’s warmed up even more by the time they’re back at the house, so they split to change into swimsuits and head down to the beach again.

There’s other people there, this time, but it’s still March so it’s not too badly crowded. Annabeth reads a book in her beach chair, stretched out so she can get as much of a tan as possible, and Percy lays on the sand next to her, like a lizard basking in the warmth. 

Eventually, she finishes her chapter and he can convince her to throw a frisbee around for a while, until her shoulders are starting to burn and she drags him back to the house. They do end up going grocery shopping, so they’ll have something for dinner when everyone else lands around 5.

Around three, they get confirmation that Will and Nico are about to take off, which settles the low level stress Percy has had in his chest since he and Annabeth left, about having people be scattered across the country. He likes his friends and family all in the same place, so he can make sure they’re all alright. 

They leave the house at 3:30 to head back towards LAX, and Annabeth, true to her word, makes Percy drive. He has no idea how everyone is gonna fit in this car, but the Lyft was expensive as fuck and no one wants to get another one, so they’re gonna make it work. Traffic is, as predicted, terrible, so they sit in what feels like the same place for a ridiculous amount of time before they even get close to the airport. 

They’re maybe five minutes away when Percy’s phone starts ringing, and Annabeth grabs it from the console and answers in her best secretary voice. “Percy’s phone, Annabeth speaking. Can I take a message?”

The person on the other end says something that makes her laugh, and then she flips it onto speakerphone and holds it up between them so Percy can hear too. “Hey!” Piper says, way too cheerful to have just gotten off an 8 hour flight. “Are you guys close? We’re at baggage claim now.”

“Yeah, babe,” Annabeth says, blushing a little when Percy makes a face at the pet name. “We should be there in like three, want us to just wait outside?”

“Sounds good,” a moment’s pause, “see you soon, honey.”

“Honey!” Percy half yells when she hangs up, too eager to mock her to even try and control his volume. “Got something you want to tell me, before we live together for a week?”

“It’s nothing,” but Annabeth never blushes like this, so it’s definitely not nothing. “Just, she’s been getting more affectionate recently andwedidhookuplikeaweekago.” She runs the last part together, like if she says it quickly enough he won’t catch it.

“You hook- when were you gonna tell me that, holy shit,” she is very pointedly not making eye contact with him so he slaps at her shoulder a little as he steers with the other hand. “Annabeth Chase I am your best friend, what do you mean you hooked up with her a week ago?”

“It’s not a big deal! It was a friends thing!”

“The fuck do you mean, it was a friends thing! You’re in love with her! Annabeth!”

Unfortunately, they are pulling up to arrivals, and he can already see Frank and Jason, the two tallest, waving to get their attention from the curb. 

“We are not done talking about this, you hear me? I need details and I need them as soon as possible.”

She clearly knows that he won’t press the issue with Piper in the car, so she ignores him and leans back to open one of the car’s doors so their friends can climb in. Jason opens her door to get Jupiter to settle at her feet, where he’ll have much more room to stretch out than he would if crammed in the back with his owner.

They throw their shit in the trunk, first, and then Jason, Leo and Frank come through and get settled in the backseat. Once they’re sitting, Piper crawls all the way through to Jason’s lap, and Hazel climbs into Frank’s and shuts the door behind her. It’s shockingly efficient, considering that they’re fitting five people where three people should be, so it’s very likely that Frank and Jason had come up with this plan on the plane, to make sure everyone was as secure as possible.

Jason’s behind the driver’s seat, and once he has an arm around Piper’s waist to function as a makeshift seatbelt, he puts his other arm over her shoulders, so he can pat Percy’s arm in greeting. “Hey, man,” he says, smiling way too big for someone who’s just been on a plane for eight hours. 

Percy pulls out into traffic, trying his best to look unsuspicious to any cops who may look in the backseat and see the amount of traffic safety laws they’re breaking. From what he can see in the rearview mirror, Frank and Jason are trying to lean their heads back between the headrests, like maybe it’ll look like Piper and Hazel just have really buff bodies or something.

It’s a terrible idea, but the drive is only 40 minutes, and there’s gotta be weirder things going on on California highways, so he just matches the speed of people around them, and tunes out the conversation. 

When they’re back at the house, Annabeth and Percy hop out of the car first, so they can help everyone else unfold themselves from how they’ve been crammed. As soon as Piper is off Jason’s lap, she pulls Annabeth into a hug, which is pretty normal, but the way she’s tucking her face into Annabeth’s neck is not, and he files that information away for later. 

He helps Hazel climb out of Frank’s lap and shake the feeling back into her legs, and then accepts the real hug from her and the bro hugs from Frank and Leo. Jason is starting to grab bags from the trunk, but he pulls Annabeth into a side hug when she lets go of Piper and lets Percy dap him up, tenderly.

Percy tosses the keys back to Piper so she can unlock her house and lead them inside, giving kind of a half-hearted tour. She tosses her own bag into her room, and then points out the other guest rooms, so everyone else can get one. When Percy points at the door that he’s claimed, cracked open so you can see into it just a little bit, she squints at him a little suspiciously. There’s no reason for that, so he looks in and sees, unfortunately, the sweatshirt Annabeth had slept in last night, still crumpled on the bed, the Alpha Sig letters bright enough to stand out even from the doorway. 

He and Annabeth have long since moved on from each other. They’re better as friends, and they both know it, but sometimes their relationship still registers as more than friendship to an outsider, because they know each other so well. He thought Piper understood that they were nothing more than platonic now, but she might be confused enough about her own relationship with Annabeth to be a little jealous anyway, without meaning to be. 

It happens to him, when he sees her and Jason interact sometimes, so he can’t really blame her for it. 

He does make sure to crack a joke about it to Frank, because he’s nothing if not a good bro. It’s loud enough that everyone can hear, about how quiet the house had felt when all the other rooms were empty, and how they’d crashed in the same bed because both of them have seen far too many horror movies to be comfortable sleeping in separate rooms the first night. 

It’s clumsy but it gets the point across.

Everyone breaks for a little, to get their stuff settled in their respective rooms and change out of their plane clothes. Percy and Annabeth putter around in the kitchen, trying to come up with something that isn’t pizza for dinner, until Leo comes in and kicks them out, so he can whip something up. 

They have a family meal, all crowded around Piper’s dad’s fancy dining table. Jupiter is delighted to have everyone in the same place, and wanders around to get attention from as many people as possible before taking his normal place at Jason’s feet. Leo, for everything about him that implies he wouldn’t be, is a really good cook, so dinner is delicious and Percy eats approximately his own body weight, before going to lay on the deck in the glow of the sunset until he recovers. 

Jason, Piper and Jupiter join him, though they stay sitting up and keep much more of their dignity. They’re talking about how happy they are to be back in California, and he tries not to eavesdrop too much, even though they were the ones who followed him outside. It still feels invasive, to hear Jason admit that he hasn’t even told his dad he’s in California, even though they’re maybe a half hour from his own house. 

Thalia is out of the country, so he doesn’t have a reason to go home, he says. It’s enough to be in his home state. 

That’s hard to imagine, for Percy. Even if his mom was still married to Gabe, he can’t imagine coming back to the city and not telling her. She’s the most important person in his life, or was until Estelle was born, and it would kill him if they didn’t talk. 

It’s clearly too much vulnerability for Jason for one night, so he lays down next to Percy, and turns his head so they’re facing each other. “What do you think, so far? Is Cali everything you’ve dreamed of and more?”

He could never live in California, loves the state of New York too much to stray too far off the east coast, but it definitely has its charms. “Not bad, not bad. Nice beach, good mimosas. All around, A plus so far.”

Jason looks pleased, and folds an arm back behind his head, so he can lay more comfortably and stare at the sunset. “It’s good to be home.”

Jupiter isn’t on his leash, because there’s no one around besides them and he’s too well trained to run off, so he’s free to lay down on Jason’s other side, putting his chin on the boy’s chest. 

They lay there for a little while, soaking in the ability to be outside without at least two layers until the sun sets. Piper wanders inside after a bit, in search of something to drink and it’s just the two of them. Neither of them tries to talk, and the quiet is a good break from all the stress they’ve had about graduation and job hunting.

Hazel sticks her head outside after a while to let them know that they’re setting up a fire pit and that they should feel free to “stop being dramatic and drink a beer, or something,” whenever they want.

Apparently, Piper and her dad are really into camping, both in California and when they go back to Oklahoma, so they have a ridiculous number of camp chairs in the garage. When they drag themselves off the deck and back inside, Percy dips into his bedroom to change into sweatpants and a hoodie, and comes back out to find that Jason’s done the same. Piper and Leo are building a fire up when they head out to the front, while everyone else watches from their chairs. 

There’s a lot of the two-person ones, that look more like a small sofa than a chair. Hazel and Frank are in one, Annabeth by herself in a second, though there’s a blanket over the other half, like someone else was sitting there a second ago, and a third empty next to Hazel and Frank’s. There’s only one one-person chair, and there’s already a beer in the cup holder, so Leo has definitely claimed it.

There’s a cooler by the fire, full of the beer that Percy and Annabeth had picked up grocery shopping. Unfortunately, it’s only Bud Light and knock-off White Claws, because no one has ever been able to accuse Percy of having good taste in beer, and Jason hadn’t been there to pick out whatever pretentious expensive stuff he usually likes. 

Percy picks up a couple Bud Lights, and heads for the last empty sofa. It seems impossible to sit on one end without messing up the balance, so he hovers until Jason joins him and they can sit at the same time. Once they’re settled, Jason grabs one of the beers from him and makes a face at it before putting it in the cupholder.

“Listen, man,” Percy says, because he knows that face. “If you skipped your Friday class to fly out earlier, or if you just … fucked around and got born earlier so you could be of drinking age now, you could pick out your own booze. Unfortunately-”

Jason leans over to face wash him, gently but still enough to be annoying. “If I was born earlier? You know it doesn’t work like that-”

“You don’t know that. Simply induce earlier labor, Jay. Come on.”

“I’m not gonna argue with you about this.”

“Cause you know you’d lose, dumbass. I’m right, and you should shut up and drink your beer. Respect your elders.”

Jason groans and gets him in a headlock, careful not to tip the chair or the beer cans. They tussle for a minute, before Piper tosses one of her flip flops at them, across the fire, to get them to break it up. They all stare at her in disbelief, because she’s definitely one of the least likely of the group to risk creating toxic fumes by burning shit. 

“Holy shit, Pipes, that was a terrible idea,” Hazel says, looking shocked that the shoe had managed to not fall into the flame and forced them all to inhale burning rubber. 

She doesn’t bother to defend herself, and just sits back into the chair that Annabeth is in, tucking herself into her side and letting Annabeth get an arm around her shoulders.

She’s not getting her fucking flip flop back, though.

Jason settles back onto his side of the chair and cracks his beer, turning to the rest of the group. “Any word from Will and Neeks? I think they should land any minute now.”

Frank’s got his phone out, and he types something out before looking back up to everyone else. “Yeah, they just got in their Lyft, hopefully they’ll be here within the hour. Are there more chairs?”

Piper seems like she’s counting something off in her head, staring blankly at a spot above Jason’s head. “Yeah, I think there’s more in the garage. No more two-seaters, though.”

Leo wants to complain about someone in his engineering class from this morning, so they let him ramble for a while. Jason and Annabeth seem like the only people who are actually following, because everyone else present falls firmly into the Humanities Major camp, but they’re doing enough to keep the conversation going that Percy lets himself zone out a little, finishing his beer and tucking his other hand into the pocket of his sweatshirt. It’s not cold, but it’s just chilly enough that he’s grateful for the extra warmth. 

Jason catches the movement out of the corner of his eye, and drags Percy closer to him without breaking eye contact with Leo. They end up pressed against each other, Jason’s arm tight around his shoulders so he can tuck himself against the other boy’s warm chest and wrap his right arm around his waist. 

Frank makes his best Meaningful Face, eyebrows up and everything, at Percy, and he does his best to pretend he doesn’t see it, because he’s very much not interested in having that conversation right now. 

Jason is trailing his hand up and down Percy’s arm now, less like he’s trying to create friction to warm him up and more like he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it. He stops for a second, his fingers tracing the embroidery on the sleeve like he’s trying to read it by touch alone. “Is this mine?” he asks, voice quiet and a little reverent, barely more than a whisper.

Unfortunately, it is, because Percy is just a man, and a little too weak to not keep a sweatshirt given to him by someone he’s had feelings for for a not insignificant amount of time.

“Oh, shit it might be,” his mock-surprise sounds hollow, even to him. “I guess I still had it, for some reason. I can grab another one from my bag, if you want it back.” Hopefully it doesn’t show in his voice, the desperate wish that he won’t have to give it back.

Jason’s fingers run back over the embroidery, once, twice, and Percy hopes he can’t feel how hard his heart is pounding in his chest over the touch. “No,” and Jason sounds a little affected too, but he might be imagining it. “You should keep it, it’s a little small for me anyway.” His hand goes back to rubbing Percy’s arm, from shoulder to elbow and back up over and over again. “Plus, I still have the one you gave me for Christmas. It’s only fair.”

Leo and Annabeth are still talking, but they’re looking over at the whispering. Annabeth looks a little smug, and Piper seems to be making a face at Jason from where she’s resting on Annabeth’s chest. He hopes it isn’t a “hah look at how pathetic Percy’s being,” kind of look. She’s too nice for that, probably. So is Jason. 

Frank and Hazel are also whispering, but they keep glancing over too, so Percy really doesn’t want to know what that’s about. 

Jason seems like he’s done with this conversation, for now at least, so he asks Annabeth about the museum she wanted to check out, and takes it away from there, talking about his favorite places to go in the LA area, and how he actually has another museum suggestion that she might like. “Also,” he adds, with a considering lilt to his voice. “I think Pipes loves that one, right? You could go together.”

Jet lag always hits Percy like a truck, and this is apparently no exception. His mom has always suspected that it’s a combination of the actual jet lag and how much he hates to fly, like the stress makes him crash a little harder. She’s probably right, actually, because no one else seems that affected, even if it’s like three am in New York.

He can barely keep his eyes open, and he’s having absolutely no luck following the conversation, so he just drops his head onto Jason’s shoulder and closes his eyes against the light from the fire. He can still hear the conversation a little, but he doesn’t bother focusing on what people are saying. They’ll wake him up if they need him. 

He wakes up a little bit, when a car door shuts and everyone raises their voices a little in greeting. He hears Will’s voice, a little more southern drawl-y than usual, like he gets when he’s exhausted, as he greets Jupiter with a “well hello, honey!”

He starts to pull his head off Jason so he can see what’s happening, but he’s still too asleep to manage more than a weak twitch, and Jason rubs his hand over his back comfortingly, with a muttered, “you’re good baby, don’t worry about it.”

Jason’s got it, whatever it is, so he leans his head back into the warmth and lets himself drift again.

He thinks he hears Nico’s voice, making fun of Jason for something, but he’s too far gone to make out anything besides “pathetic, dude,” and “tell him, holy shit.” He’s not even sure if it’s a dream or not. 

Annabeth wakes him up a little while later, when everyone is cleaning up. He’s alone in the chair, but he can see Jason collecting cans for the recycling a few feet away. Piper and Frank are folding up chairs, and Leo is putting the fire out. Will, Nico and Hazel are nowhere to be found. 

She’s looking at him like she doesn’t even know where to start, but compartmentalizes finally. “It’s like two, here, so we’re all gonna head to bed.” He nods, and starts to sit up so he can drag himself to his room, but she cuts him off with a look. “Also, that was so obvious.”

He glances around in a panic, but it seems like it was quiet enough that no one heard her. Still, it’s so blatant that he glares at her until she rolls her eyes back. “Don’t be a baby, dude, it’s fine. Still, you should talk to him about it.”

She’s being a hypocrite, and he tells her so, but she just rolls her eyes again and walks away. Once he’s standing, Frank comes by for the chair and Percy kicks at his leg halfheartedly, because of the knowing look on his face.

It seems like everyone has the cleanup under control, so he starts to head back inside, bringing the cooler with him. He unpacks it into the fridge, and dumps the ice off the back deck, leaving it out there to dry. 

Everyone is inside by the time he’s done, and he says goodnight to the room at large and heads for his bed, only bothering to take off his shoes and pants before he crashes.

Frank bangs on his door the next morning, around ten California time. When Percy groans, he sticks his head in, looking way too awake. “Just trying to help you get adjusted to the time difference, dude. I think there’s french toast happening in the kitchen soon, if you want in.”

French toast does sound good, so he rolls out of bed and throws on the same sweatpants from last night. They don’t smell that much like smoke, so they’re probably fine. He swaps Jason’s sweatshirt out for his NYU one and opens drawers until he finds his phone. There’s a couple texts from the group chat, and one from his mom. 

He opens the one from his mom first, a picture of Estelle and Mrs. O’Leary curled up together. The message says “Missing you over here! How’s California so far? Annabeth sent a picture of you yesterday, looks like you’re getting a headstart on those mimosas! LOL.”

Giving Annabeth his mom’s phone number was probably the worst decision he’s made in all three and a half years of college. He taps the ‘love’ button on the picture of his sister, and the ‘haha’ one on the mimosa text. 

“Having a great time so far!” he responds. “I think we’re heading to the beach today, I’ll send more pictures later.”

The texts from the group chat look like they’re all from when he was asleep, just Nico confirming that they’re in a Lyft and then a later text asking if they’re still gonna be up when the Lyft gets there. 

Unfortunately, there’s a third text from him, a picture of Percy curled up mostly in Jason’s lap, visibly dead to the world. Jason is trying to glare at the camera, but he’s laughing a little. It’s painfully intimate, in a way that makes Percy not want to look at it for too long. He saves it to his camera roll anyway.

When he heads into the kitchen almost everyone is already eating, but Jason is still at the stove, keeping an eye on the toast that’s still cooking. He’s shirtless, in just a pair of pajama pants, which is a look that is working far too well for him. When he hears Percy come in, he takes down one more plate from the cupboard, loads it up and hands it over without even needing to ask. 

Percy manages a “thanks,” but his voice is still rough from sleep and it’s barely audible. 

Jason waves him off. 

He slumps into one of the empty chairs, next to Annabeth, and digs in to the food. The idea of even pouring coffee seems like too much work, and he resigns himself to a coffee-less existence, at least for the time being. At least the french toast is spectacular, because it is to Jason what eggs are to Percy. 

There’s also a lot, so he commits himself to working steadily through them as Hazel chatters about how excited she is to head to the beach. Frank is just looking at her with the resting In Love face he gets sometimes, and Nico is watching Frank look at his sister with a suspicious look masking the happiness on his face. 

Jason deems the toast on the stove to be done enough, and slides into the chair on the other side of Percy, somehow balancing a plate for himself and two cups of coffee. He slides one in front of Percy, and slaps him on the back. “You look like you need it, dude.”

It has the exact right amount of milk in it, because Jason’s superpower is remembering exactly what his friends like in their coffee, as well as how much of it. He’s not gonna read into it. 

He wakes up, finally, about the time that everyone else finishes eating. They take the time to work out a plan, and are pretty unanimous on just heading to the beach for the whole day. It’s walkable, so they bring the cooler again. Piper insists that open container laws aren’t something they need to worry about, but she’s suspiciously vague about if it’s actually legal, or they just won’t be stopped for it. 

Percy doesn’t care either way, but he’d like to know.

They break again to change into swimsuits, and regroup in front of the house so Jason and Piper can figure out who’s carrying what. Percy and Frank are assigned the cooler, Hazel gets the bag of sunscreen, a couple books, the frisbee and a football, and Will, Nico, Leo and Jason are all carrying beach chairs, enough for all of them. Annabeth and Piper end up with everyone’s towels. Jupiter's well trained enough to trot along behind the group.

They let Piper lead the way, because she wants to take some small path instead of the actual sidewalk. It’s difficult going with the cooler, but he and Frank are both too stubborn to complain, so they suffer in silence until they make it to open air again. Even though it’s Saturday, the beach is still as empty as it was the day before, so they get a spot pretty easily. 

Jason, Annabeth, Will and Nico all put enough sunscreen on that Percy almost feels bad mocking them for it. It must be difficult to be that pale. He still puts a little on, because he has a sinking suspicion that his mom would sense it from across the country if he didn’t.

Once they have all the chairs laid out, Nico and Hazel sit in theirs, seeming happy to just chat and soak in the sun for a while, while everyone else enjoys the water. It’s even warmer than it was the day before, and the water feels incredible. They play frisbee in the water for a while, tossing it over the shallow parts so Jupiter can play too, until Frank and Will head for the shore, to go bother their respective partners. 

Percy heads back too, and ignores his chair in favor of laying a towel out on the ground and stretching out face down. The sand molds to his body, and it’s comfortable enough that he naps for a little while.

He’s woken up a little while later so they’ll have even teams for football. Piper, Leo and Nico are sitting out, because they’re not interested in being involved, for reasons that vary from “it’s hypermasculine peacocking” to “I grew up in Texas, I’ve had enough football for a lifetime.” It leaves him, Jason, Frank, Will, Annabeth and Hazel. 

Piper, despite making fun of the sport in general, insists on refereeing and sets Annabeth and Percy as team captains. They have a makeshift draft to pick teams, and end up pretty even, despite Annabeth’s best attempts to stack her own lineup. In the first round, she takes Jason, so Percy takes Frank. She goes for Hazel next, because she wants “speed over brawn,” leaving him with Will, even though he’s not sure Will brings any more ‘brawn’ than Hazel.

The problem, with the team set up, is that the two people Percy has the most competitive relationships with are on the same team, against him. Annabeth is incredibly athletic on her own, as is Jason, but together they’re gonna do the best to beat the shit out of him, and he might not be able to put up a decent fight. 

They break for “strategy,” which is mostly huddling fifteen feet away from Annabeth’s team, and having Frank, the only one who actually played football, try his best to explain the plays he wants to run. He’s going to be quarterback, because he’s the most confident in his own ability to throw the ball, and he wants Will and Percy to basically run towards the end zone, and desperately hope they’ll catch the ball if it comes to them. 

Ostensibly, they aren’t playing tackle, but it’s pretty implied that if the ball is in the hands of anyone but Hazel, a tackle is fair game. 

Piper calls them over for the flip, and Annabeth stares into Percy’s eyes in the horrifyingly intimidating way she has, that screams “I know everything about you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” He tries his best to stare back, and hope that it conveys even a fraction of the same energy. Piper makes them agree on a field set up before they can start, and they agree on no field goals, and end zones marked by the cooler (on Percy’s side) and Nico in his chair (on Annabeth’s side).

Annabeth gets to call it, because Piper is super gay for her, or whatever, but she still loses it, and Piper tosses the ball to Jason for the kickoff. 

Once they start, it doesn’t resemble real football at all. There’s way too few of them, and really only Frank and Jason know all the rules, so everyone else just tries their best, with mixed results. 

Percy scores one touchdown, because he’s lighter and probably faster than Jason, and can skip out of the way of his tackle. Unfortunately, Hazel scores immediately after, because Frank is the only one near her, and is understandably unwilling to body slam his girlfriend into the ground. 

Because there’s no field goals, and the teams are probably the most evenly matched they could be, it stays scoreless for a while after that. There’s more incomplete passes than there probably should be, given that everyone is more or less athletic. Percy can see Annabeth getting frustrated because she hates being bad at anything, even if there’s no reason her ability to throw a softball would manifest itself in her ability to throw a football in a perfect spiral. 

Piper calls half time after a while, so they can all drink a beer and catch their breath. Nico is engrossed in his book, but he looks up for long enough to toss a bottle of sunscreen at Percy, with shockingly good aim. “For your tat, dude. You don’t want it to burn.”

It’s an uncharacteristically nice thing to do, and he looks at Nico a little suspiciously before he opens the tube and goes at it. He can get the front fine, but he’s not super confident that he got the back of his arm enough. He’s squinting over his shoulder when Piper notices and laughs at him a little. 

“Hey, Jay, might want to help your boy out over there.”

Jason looks up from where he’s talking strategy with Hazel, confused for a second before his eyes land on what Percy’s doing and he comes over without argument. He takes the bottle from Percy’s hand and mutters “this cool?” in his ear, waiting for a nod in response before he gets to work.

It’s a little embarrassing, the way that Percy stops breathing while he does it, like moving at all would give him away. 

Jason is gentle and efficient, and he runs his hand down the length of the tattoo before he pulls away. It’s the same gesture from last night, but it’s like four times more intimate on bare skin. “It does look really good. Your tattoo. It fits you.”

“Thanks, man. Hey, don’t think this means I won’t kick your ass in the second half. We’re coming for you.”

“You couldn’t beat me if you tried, bro. We’re clearly stacked.”

He’s obviously just trying to rile Percy up, but he lets it happen because he loves to argue. “Are you fucking serious, I was the one who scored on you, come on-”

“You scored because I let you, I wanted to give you a little hope-”

“What the fuck do you mean you let me, you fucking dove and missed because I’m faster than you. Just admit it, we’re a stronger team-”

“The fuck you’re not!”

“Yeah, dude, you’re no match for Frank’s strategy and my godly speed-”

“Oh okay, track star. Because I’m the one who actually played football, I gotta tell you that move would get you flattened in a real game-”

“So you’re not trying? Maybe you should, dude, because we’re gonna kick your ass in the second half.”

Maybe he should’ve played a team sport in high school, this shit talking is much more fun than he thought it would be. There was never a chance for it in swim, and it looks like an untapped skill.

“Fuck you, bro.” there’s absolutely no heat behind it, and Jason is grinning a little when he says it.

“Fuck you!” Percy turns with all the dramatic flair he can muster back to the rest of the team, making sure Jason can’t see the smile on his face. Will sighs at him, like he isn’t even a little invested in winning. He may not show it, but there’s definitely a competitive streak in there somewhere. 

They huddle back up, so Percy can pull a pep talk about “supporting your teammates” and “playing your heart out” out of his ass, and Frank can talk about strategy that really just boils down to “try and score more than them.”

Piper calls them back to start the second half, and it becomes clear that pretty much everyone is actively out for blood, at this point. Frank makes Percy be quarterback for a little, “cause you’re the one who wants to talk such a big game, dude.” Percy goes for him, and it’s a pretty good throw until Annabeth throws her entire weight at Frank and knocks the ball out of his hands. 

It looks illegal, and Leo says so from where he’s sitting on the sidelines, but Piper waves him off, with a “I don’t know the rules of football, and I don’t intend to start now.”

It’s definitely not a fumble, but Jason grabs the ball like it is and makes a run for the cooler. As much as Percy would like to deny it, Jason might actually be a little faster than him, but the other boy doesn’t have quite enough spite to power him, and Percy catches up enough to latch onto his back and put his entire weight into tipping him over. 

He does fall before he makes it to the endzone, so Piper counts it as a tackle, despite everything wrong with it as a legitimate football play. Percy is very grateful to her. 

They end up with Jason sprawled on the sand and Percy on top of him, but Jason takes advantage of Percy’s shock that his play worked to flip them over and he has to divert all his energy into not losing the wrestling match. 

It’s a draw, because it usually is, and Percy eventually rolls off of him and sprawls on the sand. Will comes over to kick a little sand into his face, and then leans down to offer a hand to help him up. 

Annabeth’s team gets their first down there, but it becomes clear that they’re not going to have any luck advancing past it. They keep the game going for a while, but Will and Hazel lose interest eventually, and Annabeth and Frank seem like their competitive streaks are exhausted for the day.

There’s no use in playing without their teams, so Percy and Jason just toss the ball back and forth for a bit, until Will yells that they’re gonna head back up to the house for dinner. Jason tosses the ball back to him, underhand this time, and jogs off to help pack up the chairs. 

It’s really easy to fall into a routine of playing house, between the nine of them. Nico and Leo genuinely like cooking, so they take over for the majority of meals, but everyone else pitches in so they get a break, too. Whoever doesn’t cook helps set the table or does the dishes. It’s shockingly domestic. All the guys live together at school, as do all the girls, but this feels more like real life. 

The girls’ presence adds a dignified air, even if they’re just as immature and grumpy as the guys are. It’s just different, to be living with girls who aren’t related to them, even if there’s no actual reason it should be. Even Leo stops wandering around in just his boxers, which is a nice change of pace. 

Most days, he wakes up in time to run through a workout with Annabeth, chill enough that they’re not super sore on vacation, but draining enough that he doesn’t feel bad about skipping an actual gym for a little more than a week. After that, everyone heads down and stays at the beach until dinner. Usually there’s a fire pit afterwards. 

None of the seniors mention graduation, and the juniors pick up on that and don’t talk about it either. It’s like living in a different world, to not have to worry about their families, or school, or how shitty the job market looks.

A few nights in, Percy stops being able to hear Annabeth’s snoring through the wall separating their rooms. He has his suspicions, but doesn’t want to bring it up until he’s sure, so he waits until Wednesday morning, when he’s up early enough to see her and Piper stumble out of Piper’s room together. Piper disappears into the bathroom to brush her teeth, and Annabeth notices Percy, standing by the coffee machine as he waits for his to brew and comes over, already turning a little red.

There’s a few cups worth in the pot, so he pours one for her too and hands it over. They sit on the back porch for a while, both in gym shorts and sweatshirts that are a little too thin for the morning air. They missed the sunrise, but there’s still dew on the ground and the sun isn’t too bright yet. 

He lets her sit in silence until she’s ready, and then she turns to face him, legs folded. 

“I think we’re dating, like actually. We haven’t talked about it, but it feels serious.”

He nods, because Annabeth usually hates sharing her feelings, and if she’s interrupted she might not get back to the point, ever.

“We hooked up a few weeks ago, right, and I thought it might just be a one-off, but once she got here, uh, Friday I guess, she kissed me when we were packing up the campfire.” She gulps a breath, much more unsteady than she tends to be. “And then, Sunday night we watched a movie after you all went to bed, and I fell asleep in her room, and then it just kept happening. I think it’s real, for her, and it definitely is for me.”

He lifts his arm so she can tuck herself under it, and squeezes her shoulders as supportively as he can. “That’s awesome, Annie.”

“Don’t call me that, dude,” she mutters, shoving at him a little. Any sting is lost because of the soft smile on her face. 

“I’m happy for you.” She wraps her arms around his waist and holds on, dropping her head onto his shoulder. He kisses her hair, and then rests his cheek on it. 

They finish their coffee. 

Nothing changes after that, except now Piper sits in Annabeth’s lap sometimes when they’re having a fire pit, and sometimes she tugs Annabeth into hers at the beach. No one talks about it. It was already pretty much happening, they’re just a little more blatant now. Every time it happens, Annabeth looks like she’s glowing from happiness and it warms Percy to see her like that. 

The two of them disappear on Thursday, taking Piper’s car into LA to see the museum she wants to show Annabeth. They both dress up a little more than they have been, Piper in a sundress and Annabeth in jeans Percy knows she privately thinks of as her “date jeans” and a flowy top that matches her eyes so perfectly that she glows. 

He makes kissy faces at her as they leave, and she sticks her tongue out at him as she climbs into the passenger seat. 

Everyone else is sprawled out in the kitchen or the living room, drinking coffee or reading or arguing about something (Leo and Frank), but Jason still catches his eye and grabs his arm gently, pulling him closer.

“You good, dude?”

Percy cannot come up with a reason he wouldn’t be, and the confusion must show on his face because Jason looks like he’s searching for the right words for a second, before he opens his mouth again. 

“I just- you and Annabeth dated for a while, and I know you’re still really close, so I wanted to make sure you’re … I don’t know, not sad about this or anything.”

It’s a sweet thought, even if Jason should probably know better. 

“Are you sad about it? You were with Piper for a while, too.”

“Yeah, but I’m over her, we’re just friends now. We work better like this.”

“So do Annabeth and I. She’s one of the most important people in my life, but we didn’t work out for a reason. I want her to be happy, and Piper is good for her, I’d never be upset about that.”

Jason lets go of his arm. “Good. I’m glad.”

He doesn’t really feel like talking to anyone, has a weird energy in his chest that he gets sometimes, like if he sits still he’ll die, so he heads back to his room long enough to change into workout clothes and leave his phone, and then to the beach, not stopping longer than it takes to let his friends know where he’s going. 

He walks a little past where they’ve been hanging out, so if someone comes looking it’ll take them a bit to find him. His water bottle and towel go in a pile, and he kicks his sandals off so he can feel the sand on his feet. It’s a little colder than it’s been, so he shivers in his tank top and shorts while he gets warmed up. 

It goes away quickly though, as he starts sweating with the effort. Working out in sand is always kind of a bitch, works muscles he forgets he has, but it takes his mind off things like nothing else. He’s done it on Long Island, and he tries not to think about how this isn’t even the same ocean, and how he’s a whole continent away from what he knows. 

Jason’s here though, and Annabeth, so he’s not away from home, not really. 

He goes through the whole workout he’s been doing in the mornings, jumping jacks to high knees and then jump squats, push ups, sit ups, normal squats and then a plank. Repeats it three times, which is how much he’s been doing it, and then one more time for good measure. 

Sweat is pouring off of him, and the breeze cools it enough that he gets a little cold again while he takes a breather. When he feels like he can breathe again, he runs up and down the beach until his legs burn from the effort of pushing against the sand. 

It’s burned off enough of his energy/anxiety/angst that he feels like he can stop, and he walks into the cool of the ocean until the waves are crashing against his shorts, high on his thighs. The sun isn’t anywhere near setting, but he heads back to the house anyway, because he feels settled enough that he just wants to sit with his friends, now.

Jason and Frank are on the back deck when he comes toward the porch, fussing over whatever they’ve got on the grill. They each have a beer, even though Frank has repeatedly mocked Percy for his day drinking and it can’t be later than two in the afternoon.

When Jason looks up at him, his face relaxes immediately, the little furrow on his forehead smoothing itself out. He opens his mouth but closes it again, like he’s thought better of whatever he was about to say. 

“You want some fish, dude?” Frank asks, poking at it halfheartedly.

He does, and it looks like it’s gonna be a while until it’s ready, enough time to shower and get changed. “Yeah, that’d be great. Thanks.”

The shower is nice, and he just stands in the cold water for a while. When he’s drying off, his phone starts ringing from the bed and the sharp noise scares the shit out of him. He leaves it for a second, long enough to towel his hair and pull boxers on, and then he goes for it, swiping blindly at it until his alarm turns off. 

It’s the reminder to do his T shot, because his memory is shit and he’d forget every single time if he didn’t have the loudest alarm in the world. 

He usually does it at night, but he’s probably gonna start drinking soon and it feels like a bad idea to mix the two. Plus, he’s got enough time now, and it’s likely that as soon as he goes back to his friends they’ll drag him into activities and it’ll slip his mind again.

Everything he needs is in his toiletries bag, and he lays it out on the bed, putting the vial on the nightstand so he can scrub at his thigh with the alcohol wipes. He’s screwed the syringe onto the needle, and is about to draw the testosterone up into it when there’s a knock on the door, and Jason sticks his head through.

He clearly doesn’t see Percy at first, looking the wrong way while he starts with a “Hey, dude can we talk for a sec- oh holy shit.”

He’s staring at the needle with a little bit of panic in his eyes, and Percy gets it. The needle is long as fuck, and if you’re not used to it it probably looks scary as shit. 

Percy already has the vial held over the needle, and he’s trying to draw up the right prescription. “Can this wait, for like thirty seconds? I can’t put it down right now.”

Jason looks like he can’t decide if he’s panicking or fascinated. “Yeah, no you’re totally fine. Um, what is that though?”

“T, dude. You gotta do a shot every two weeks.”

He’s still staring at the needle, like he can’t really imagine it actually being used for a shot. 

“Do you want to stay? It’s not gonna take that long, and if it’ll make you stop freaking out to see how it works, that’s probably for the best.”

Jason steps all the way into the room, but he keeps a hand on the doorframe, like Percy might ask him to leave any second. “You sure? I don’t want to intrude.”

“I swear, I wouldn’t have offered it if I minded. Just take a seat, man, stop freaking out.”

He comes the rest of the way towards the bed, and sits a good foot away from Percy, like he’s afraid he’ll mess it up if he comes any closer. 

“You good? Not gonna pass out or anything?”

Jason nods, once, sharp and nervous.

It’s not the first time he’s done this with someone else watching, but it’s still kind of intimate to have Jason’s eyes on him. The first time, he’d had a nurse with him to make sure he didn’t fuck it up. She’d been nice, but he doesn’t even remember her name. The second time someone had watched, it was his mom, because he was young enough that she couldn’t shake her anxiety about it even though she trusted him. Watching him do it once, confidently, had been enough to reassure her.

The third person was Annabeth, because she had been talking about her estrogen pills and had been curious about how the injections worked. She’d kept her hand on his other thigh as he did it, and kissed him afterwards. 

It feels important, and kind of heavy, to let someone who isn’t his mom or his partner watch. There’s an elephant in the room, somewhere, probably, but he’s gonna ignore it for now. He trusts Jason.

He pulls the edge of his boxers up a little more, a force of habit even though the injection site isn’t even that close to them. He’s got his dose and he pulls at the muscle of his thigh until it looks right and does the injection, releasing his breath sharply. The band aid goes on, like clockwork, and he tosses the needle into the sharps container and turns to look at Jason.

He’s even paler than usual, and one of his hands is clenched by his side, which is interesting. The other is on his own thigh, in sympathy, maybe?

Percy stands to dig around for a t-shirt, pulling on the first one he sees. When he’s at least sort of dressed, he stands in front of Jason, forcing him to tilt his chin up to look at Percy’s face. His legs are separated a little, and he steps into them, runs a hand through Jason’s hair. This is new territory, but it feels right, like they’ve crossed some kind of line in their friendship and this is their normal, now. Jason puts his hands on Percy’s sides, towards the bottom of his ribcage, thumbs pressed against his abs. His eyes are locked on Percy’s face, so intense that he wants to look away a little.

“You really do that every two weeks?”

“Yeah, babe. Self-made man, remember?” Grover got him a t-shirt that said that, right after he got out of top surgery. It’s his favorite belonging, to this day. He doesn’t usually wear it in the house, doesn’t even have it up there this year, but Jason had seen it in his dresser over winter break, asked about it. 

Jason chuckles, and tightens his hands on Percy’s sides. “How old were you, when you started?”

“Fourteen, I think. Definitely freshman year of high school.”

He doesn’t usually talk about any of this with cis people. Sometimes they get too comfortable asking questions that are none of their business, and he’s tired of fending off commentary on if he’ll regret it in fifty years or something. Jason’s different though. He can feel that any question the other boy asks him will just be out of his desire to know his friends better, and understand other people’s experiences. He’s a good ally, even if Percy doesn’t usually sort people like that. Jason deserves the label.

“I don’t really-” he sighs, and Percy drags his hand back through the blond hair it’s resting on, tugging a little. “I don’t know what to say. I feel like I should thank you for trusting me with this, even if it’s not like, coming out or anything. Can I hug you, or something? Is that okay?”

“Yeah, man,” Percy says, trying not to mourn the loss of Jason’s hands as he stands up. He gets over it fast though, lets Jason manhandle him until his face is pressed to the crook of Jason’s neck. He wraps his own arms around Jason’s waist, holding on. 

Jason lets him go after a while, with a muttered “thank you for trusting me with this,” like he couldn’t help himself. 

Percy goes on the hunt for sweatpants too, because it seems like Jason’s not leaving the room any time soon, and just cooling it in his boxers is something else that implies things he doesn’t want to think about. He finds some, and remembers that Jason is actually here for a reason besides watching him give himself a shot.

He sits back down on the bed, closer to Jason this time. “What did you want to talk about? I just remembered why you’re here.”

“Oh, yeah. I just came in to see if you were okay? I know you said you were fine, but you usually only disappear to work out like that if you’ve got that extra energy thing going on, and usually that’s ‘cause you’re stressed about something.”

He didn’t know that Jason had ever realized that. He’s definitely never told him explicitly. “Yeah, I’m good. Just-” he hasn’t even said this out loud, or let himself think it, but Jason isn’t gonna make fun of him for it. “You know, Annabeth and Piper are together now, and we’re graduating soon, and I’m scared that I’m gonna lose all of you, after that. Annabeth is coming to New York too, but if she’s with Piper she doesn’t really need me anymore, right?”

Jason twitches a little, like he’s about to wrap an arm around Percy but changed his mind. He grabs for Percy’s hand instead, sandwiches it between his own and pulls it into his lap. 

“You’re Annabeth’s best friend, though. She’s always gonna need you, even if it’s not the same way she needs Piper. And come on, you know you’re not gonna get rid of me that easily. It’s Kappa Sig ‘til we die, Percy. You’re my best friend, too, and I’m not gonna let you drift away like that. Neither will Frank, or Will, or Leo, or Nico as much as he pretends he doesn’t like you. You’re stuck with us, for as long as you want us.”

He wants to lean into Jason, but it feels a little pathetic, so he doesn’t, just squeezes his hand around Jason’s. “Thanks.” There’s more to say, but he doesn’t know how.

“Also, I applied to an internship in the city and they want me, so it looks like we’ll be in the same place, anyway.”

This might fully be a dream. There’s no way he’s lucky enough to have Grover, Annabeth, and Jason all end up in the same city as him, and in his city to boot. “For real? You’re not fucking with me?”

Jason’s voice is too soft when he answers. “Never.”

There’s another knock on the door, Nico poorly hiding the amusement in his voice as he calls out, “Fish is ready, if you want to like, put your pants on or whatever.”

Percy rips his hand out of Jason’s and springs to his feet. Jason’s a good guy, but he can’t fool himself into thinking he’s anything more than his best friend. It’s not fair to him, if Percy reads into every interaction they have like some kind of creep. 

The fish is spectacular. By the time they finish eating, it’s gotten super cloudy out and Hazel suggests a house-wide Monopoly game, which is a fucking terrible idea because people always end up at each other’s throats. Of course they play.

No one who’s in a relationship is allowed to be a team, so Jason and Nico are together, Frank and Percy, Will and Hazel, and Leo on his own, because he always insists that a teammate drags him down. Privately, Percy suspects that he’s got some kind of chip on his shoulder about being a seventh wheel, even if they’re not grouped as couples, and Jason and Percy are also, technically, on the outside of this group.

Jason and Nico are a horrifying pair, because their devotion to each other is deep and incomprehensible, and Nico is evil enough to scheme several moves into the future. They’re usually the winners, unless Annabeth or Frank can get in the way. 

Percy and Frank are usually good, because Percy’s impulsiveness balances out Frank’s caution, and Frank’s head for strategy is a match for Percy’s competitiveness. 

Will and Hazel are terrible, because he’s too busy being worried about making a good impression on his future sister in law to be ruthless enough to play, and she’s too nice to wipe the floor with anyone, even though she definitely has the financial sense to do it. 

Leo varies wildly between being spectacular and winning in like three rounds, or losing all his money in the first half hour and giving up to be an observer. 

It’s looking like Nico is going to run away with it again, because he got more of his dad’s business sense than Hazel, which is to say, the exact same understanding of how business works, but less socially conditioned expectation to be nice and polite. Jason is kind of along for the ride, but it doesn’t stop him from, in a very dignified and adult move, making it rain $500 bills in front of Will and Hazel when they’re forced into bankruptcy.

Annabeth and Piper are back, take out in tow, just in time to see Will very gently ruffle Nico’s hair and whisper “I am breaking up with you, though,” directly because of his teammate’s actions. Jason does not look even a little ashamed.

They’ve been playing for hours, and Percy had no idea how hungry he was until he caught the scent of the fried rice that Annabeth is waving around. They destroy the food in what must be record time, while Annabeth and Piper tell them about the museum and Annabeth rambles about how beautiful the city was. 

Will and Hazel want to watch some movie after dinner, so they commandeer the TV and a couple sofas in the living room. Where Will goes, Nico goes, and where Hazel goes, Frank goes, so everyone ends up there with them, minus Jason who claims exhaustion and heads for his room, Jupiter trailing behind him.

He’d seemed fine earlier, and Percy tries not to overthink it, like maybe he’d been too obvious and now Jason isn’t interested in being around him anymore. He ends up on a couch with Leo, out of default, and accepts the teasing about the awkward way they fit together, like they’re not used to sharing space. 

They’re not. Leo’s a good guy, but he’s more Jason’s friend than Percy’s and his fights with Frank too often end with Percy on Frank’s side, making their relationship mostly based on having the same friends and being on the same e-board.

It’s whatever. He’s warm, and lets Percy kick his feet up into his lap, so it’s good enough.

No one is really feeling a fire pit that night, so they split off for bed relatively early. Percy texts his mom an update, just a picture of Frank and Jason grilling that Will had taken earlier. He captions it “eating good!” and passes the fuck out.

Everything seems normal the next day, down to Jason greeting him with a smile and a plate of eggs the next morning. Jupiter begs for them, and he slips him a little piece, just so he’ll stop making that face.

The rest of the day goes by pretty fast. They take the time to pack everything up, leaving just their carry-on things strewn around. They go to the beach to fuck around for a while, and then come back and get spectacularly drunk around the fire pit, one last time. 

Annabeth’s alarm goes off at 10 on Saturday morning, and it manages to wake all of them, from where they’ve ended up strewn across the living room. She and Piper have a couch, as do Will and Nico. Frank is lying on the ground, with Hazel fully on top of him. Percy has a couch to himself, but Jason is on the floor at his feet. Leo is in an armchair, legs draped over one arm and head over the other. 

They muster enough to pack the rest of their shit, and throw all their bedsheets in the laundry. Any evidence of drinking gets driven to the recycling plant, and they check for any loose cans behind every sofa until Piper is satisfied. 

There’s no way they’re all going to fit into one Lyft, even if it’s an XL, so Jason and Piper each call one. Jason gets Leo, Percy and Frank, while Piper gets Annabeth, Hazel, Will and Nico. Their flight isn’t for a while, but Piper and Jason swear up and down that the LAX security is going to take them at least twice as long to get through, so they have to get an early start. 

Jason sits in the front of the Lyft and makes cheerful small talk with the driver for the whole ride, leaving Percy to sit in between Frank and Leo, even though Leo is technically shorter than him, just in case they get into some kind of fight. They don’t, and Leo spends the ride alternately texting Calypso and tossing around theme ideas for the formal.

At the airport, they suffer through the massive lines for security and finally regroup at their gate. Unfortunately, they all have different boarding positions, because some people had been more prompt to check in on time than others. Annabeth, Piper, Jason, Frank and Hazel are all in A, Will and Nico had managed to get themselves into B, and Percy and Leo are relegated to C, and not even the high C’s. 

The best they can do is cool it in the uncomfortable chairs and hope that someone saves them seats with the rest of the group, even if it’s terrible airplane etiquette. The airplane is pretty much packed by the time they get on, and their friends are absolutely nowhere to be found. Unfortunately, there aren’t any empty seats, either, so they’re forced to wander towards the back in the hopes that they won’t be relegated to a middle seat between strangers, or something like that.

When they get towards the back, a hand goes up in one of the window seats, waving the Kappa Sig letters from someone’s sweatshirt. Somehow, they’ve managed to get three whole rows, Will, Nico, and Hazel piled into one, Annabeth and Piper in the one across from them, and Jason and Frank directly behind. Frank’s the one with his sweatshirt up, though Piper is also holding up an Alpha Sig hat to help the cause. 

Percy is in front of Leo in the aisle, so he ends up with Frank and Jason, though Jason makes him sit in the middle because he’s the shortest. Leo is on the outside of Piper and Annabeth’s row. 

Jupiter finally settles, and sprawls at Jason’s feet, sticking into the aisle a little bit more than he probably should, but it’s not his fault he’s a big dog. Percy had been focusing on trying to board and find the rest of their group, but he can’t distract himself any more from the stress of flying now that he’s found them.

He does his best to not let it show as the flight attendants walk them through the emergency procedures, and starts to close his eyes as the plane moves on the runway. Jason doesn’t bother him, leaning forward a little to join Nico and Will’s conversation about the upcoming e-board elections, but he does leave his hand on the armrest between them, palm up like he’s offering it just in case Percy needs it.

Once they’re high enough that passengers can use electronics, Percy starts to fumble for his phone so he can block out the plane noises, but before he can get Spotify pulled up, Jason tugs the tray down over his lap and puts his computer on it. 

He pulls up something he has downloaded from Netflix, and just shrugs at Percy’s questioning look. “I can’t use mine,” he explains, gesturing at where Jupiter’s head would absolutely prevent folding his down. “Guess you’re stuck watching with me.”

Percy lets him shove one of the Airpods into his ear, and resigns himself to whatever Jason has picked out. Not wanting to hold his computer in his lap is a super flimsy excuse to try and distract Percy from flying, but he’s not gonna complain. 

Jason passes out halfway through the movie, head coming down to rest on Percy’s shoulder, even though he has to hunch over a little to do so. There’s no sign of him waking up any time soon, even when the movie ends, so Percy just scrolls through the rest of his downloads until he sees something else that looks interesting. 

They pass most of the flight like that, Jason snoring gently into Percy’s sweatshirt and Percy pretending he doesn’t see Nico wheel around to snap a picture of them as soon as he notices what’s happening. It’s a direct flight, miraculously, so he can let Jason sleep the whole way, pretending he doesn’t see the flight attendant make a “young love is so cute” face at the two of them when she comes by with water. 

Jupiter falls asleep too, head on his paws between Percy’s feet.

Jason doesn’t have that many good movies downloaded, because he’s got shockingly bad taste sometimes, so Percy plays old episodes of the Good Place until he wakes up and complains, because he wouldn’t know a good sitcom if it bit him in the ass.

They argue, quiet and not at all angry for a little while, back and forth about why the Office is the worst sitcom of all the time (Percy), or the best (Jason). It’s been going on since their freshman year, and Frank leans over Percy a couple times to take his side against Jason. 

It’s almost one am eastern time when they land back in New York, and Percy tries to force himself to be tired, like it’ll help him sleep if he just tells himself he wants to go to bed. Will’s truck is at the airport, but it’s not enough for everyone, so the girls get their own Lyft, like the Alpha Sig house is far enough away from Kappa Sig to justify another vehicle. It’s the same street.

Nico gets shotgun, Jupiter at his feet. Everyone else squeezes into the back, jostling for room but not wanting to crack and pile into each other’s laps if there’s not at least five of them. It’s giving up, or something. Still, Leo’s the only one of them who can be classified as a small guy, so they’re all over each other.

Some of the other guys who live in the house are still up when they get back, and they drag everyone into conversation about their breaks. As they’ve gotten closer to graduation, the underclassmen have gotten a little nicer. Not nice, because they’re still like nineteen and allergic to having emotions, but even the Stolls have started asking for advice and not dumping shaving cream in everyone’s shoes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Percy gives himself a testosterone shot. It's not described in detail, but it is mentioned.


	9. Chapter 9

After spring break, graduation comes up faster than anyone could have guessed. It feels like they’re in California, and then they blink and it’s late April, a week from finals and two weeks from graduation.

At least finals are a good distraction from the inevitability of graduation. They don’t have to worry about what they’re gonna do once they’re released into the real world if there’s a chance that they might not graduate because of some arbitrary requirement that their advisors forgot to mention, or something.

Percy straight up doesn’t see Jason for like a week, when projects are due. He must be in the house at some point, because sometimes there’ll be a coffee on the table with a sticky note that says “Percy” in Jason’s handwriting, and the stock of his favorite flavor of Gatorade (yellow) that they keep in the fridge keeps shrinking, but they don’t cross paths at all.

Percy’s in the library, or at the kitchen table, for pretty much all of that week. He writes his papers, studies for his one in class final and tries to keep the rest of the guys running. Frank can take care of himself, as can Will and Nico, but everyone else more or less looks like they’re on the verge of death. He gets Will (president for the next school year, because who else would it be?) to host a mandatory study hall for anyone who isn’t a senior. 

Percy goes, not to do homework but to wander around and let guys who look like they need help call him over to talk through thesis statements or have him go through flashcards or whatever. Malcolm looks like he’s gonna cry, a little, and they spend a while together, going through his paper about modernist writers and then talking, very quietly, about how much it meant to Malcolm to have another trans guy in Kappa Sig with him.

They both cry, a little.

Will’s got everything else under control, so he leaves after that, heads up to his own room to finish one of his papers and not look at the boxes already on his floor, ready for him to finish packing. 

It’s Thursday when he sees Jason again. Percy’s done with exams, and leaving his room to get one more cup of coffee before he turns in his last paper and he runs straight into him in the hallway. Jason’s arms go up around him automatically, holding until they both regain their balance and then dropping like he’s been burned. 

Jason looks like shit, is the first thing he notices. It’s even worse than he usually gets during finals. He’s wearing basketball shorts and Percy’s swim sweatshirt, the drawstring pulling the hood tight around his face. The little bit of hair that’s visible is greasy as fuck, and his eyes look a little vacant, like he’s not super sure of what’s going on. He smells a little.

Jupiter is right behind him, glossy and healthy, because Jason would die before he would forget to take care of his dog. 

Percy puts a hand on Jason’s shoulder and shakes it a little. Jason blinks at him.

“Hey, how about you take a break, dude?” He’s not gonna agree to this easily, but Percy has always been stubborn to a fault, and he’s not above using that to his advantage. 

“I have too much to do, Perce, I gotta get back to the engineering building,” he starts to turn away, but turns back when Percy doesn’t let go of his arm.

“When is it due? Whatever you’re working on.”

Jason looks deeply suspicious. “Friday, at midnight.”

“How close are you to being done?”

“Very. I just want to look over it, one more time.”

“Do you think you’ll finish today?”

“Uh, maybe but I’ll probably want to look over it tomorrow, too, just in case.” This is the worst version of Jason, the one that doesn’t know when to stop working. If Percy knows him at all, the project is already perfect, and he just can’t give up on it.

“Is it the last thing you have to do?”

“Yeah.” 

That’s good enough, so Percy wheels him around, pushing him towards the bathroom they share with Will and Frank. “Take a shower, and then we’ll get you something to eat, and then I will walk with you to the engineering building, wait while you finish it, and then make you take a fucking break, because you deserve it.”

Jason looks like he’s about to argue, so Percy claps his hands over his ears, clucking his tongue for Jupiter. “Can’t hear you, dude. Take a fucking shower and then maybe we’ll talk.”

Jupiter looks confused, understandably, because as much time as they spend together, Percy still isn’t the person he’s supposed to stay with, but Jason groans and jerks his head at the dog so he’ll trot over to Percy. 

“You’re not my fucking dad, bro,” he mutters, looking frustrated and a little bitter.

“Absolutely right, because he is a douchebag and I am your best friend. I’d be offended if you compared us.”

He doesn’t argue that, just huffs a little and heads into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Percy heads into his own room, to grab a sweatshirt, and then into Jason’s to grab a pair of clean shorts and his Vans. He opens the bathroom door to put them on the toilet seat, grabbing the pile of dirty clothes in case Jason is feeling truly disgusting and tries to put them back on. He pointedly does not look at where the shower is running, and ignores Jason’s call of “hello?” from behind the curtain.

That settled, he and Jupiter head downstairs to see about some coffee.

They’re in the living room, Percy talking to the Stolls about their roles for next year (risk management is a terrible position for them, but they can’t be any worse than Leo), when Jason comes down the stairs, looking marginally more alive. His shorts are tight and high on his thighs, because Percy’s a good dude, but he’s not selfless, and he’s always been fond of this particular pair of running shorts. 

Unfortunately, Sally Jackson is still trying to matchmake all the way from the city, because Percy’s NYU sweatshirt fits Jason perfectly. He’s got a hat pulled over his hair, probably so he didn’t have to deal with it drying, and he smiles sheepishly when he looks up and sees the boys looking at him.

“Feeling better?”

“Yeah. Thanks, man,” his voice is still softer than Percy likes, because Jason may be quiet in terms of how much he chooses to talk, and sometimes in volume, but he rarely sounds insecure like this. 

He tosses Jason Jupiter’s leash from where it’s sitting next to the door. “Let’s go, then.”

Jason insists on paying at Subway, but he lets Percy tease him about it at least, which is a good sign. Neither of them talk a lot more than that, because it’s a little too real, that this might be the last time they sit in this Subway together, or go into this town at all, or take care of each other.

Technically, Percy is not supposed to be in the engineering building, because it’s supposed to be closed to anyone who doesn’t need to be there for a project, but no one gives him shit, probably because he’s holding Jupiter’s leash, so he must be close to Jason, and as far as he can tell, Jason is one of the most loved people in this whole building. 

As soon as they get in the door, Jason is being greeted from pretty much every direction, everyone from the freshman girl reading a textbook in the atrium to an elderly professor who calls him “my boy,” very enthusiastically. They make it to the room Jason’s been working in, eventually, and Percy takes a seat on the sofa towards the entrance. Jupiter jumps up and settles over the rest of it, head in Percy’s lap. He’s still watching Jason carefully, big brown eyes tracking his every movement, but he seems like he knows he isn’t needed at the moment. 

Percy settles in, stroking Jupiter’s forehead and watching Jason move back and forth across the room, doing some engineering shit that Percy doesn’t even want to make an effort to understand. Jason’s good at it, is all he really needs to know.

He’s about to call across the room to check in, when a man settles into the chair next to him. He’s got a pretty jovial face, and looks like he’s maybe 50, definitely a professor of some kind.

“I’m Doctor Jones,” he says, extending a hand for Percy to shake. He does so, suddenly conscious of the dog smell on his hands, and the fact that he definitely isn’t supposed to be in this building. 

“Percy.”

Doctor Jones looks considering, like he doesn’t want to say the wrong thing. “And I take it that you, Percy, are the reason that our Jason has finally given in and taken a shower?”

“Yes, sir.” He doesn’t usually call authority figures ‘sir’ but this man seems like he deserves it.

“Very good. I was worried. It is good, then, that he has you.”

There’s definitely an implication there, but he doesn’t want to take it up with Jason’s professor because he has no idea what this man knows about him. “Always. Has he been here this whole week? I hadn’t seen him until today.”

“God, yes. I’ve never seen someone more focused on their work. Poor boy, I had to kick him out last night, just so he’d get some sleep. I thought his dog was going to go crazy, trying to take care of him.” He looks at Jupiter in Percy’s lap, the familiarity apparent there. “I’m glad he’s got an ally, in that.”

Percy nods. He has no idea what to say to that. He can’t just look this man in the eye and tell him that Jason takes care of him, too, that they’d be nothing without each other.

“You live together, then?”

“Yes, since last year.”

The man nods again, a smile on his face. “I thought your name sounded familiar. And that is your sweatshirt, I would guess? As far as I know, Jason has no desire to attend a graduate program in the city.” Percy must make some indication that the answer is yes, because he continues. “So, what are you studying then? No kind of engineering, for sure, or I would know at least your face.”

He doesn’t usually like to tell STEM people what he’s studying, because sometimes they get a little uppity about the arts being useless, but this guy seems genuinely interested, asks all the right questions and never seems disparaging. 

They talk for a while, until Jupiter picks his head up off of Percy’s lap and the two follow his gaze to see Jason, heading over. He stops short when he sees Doctor Jones, but recovers quickly, and smiles in greeting. 

“Doctor, I wasn’t expecting to see you here. Can I do anything for you?”

Doctor Jones stands up, so he and Jason are at the same level. “No, son, I just came to see how you were doing. If I knew your boy had it all under control, I wouldn’t have bothered. You look better, today.”

Jason blushes, bright pink, though Percy has no idea if it’s in reaction to the ‘your boy’ comment, or the ‘looking better’ comment. He hopes it’s the first one, doesn’t want to think about Jason having some kind of hero-worship crush on his professor. “Thank you, sir. I think I’ve just finished, actually. I’m going to send it in now, before I keep Percy waiting any longer.”

Jones laughs a little, and leans in to shake Jason’s hand. “Good man. I can’t wait to look over your work. Make sure you find me at graduation, okay?”

Jason looks like he’s trying desperately to not show any emotion on his face. “I will, sir.”

Jones nods at him, and claps Percy on the shoulder. “Have a good day, boys.”

Jason relaxes a little once he’s out of sight. “That guy still scares the shit out of me.”

“He seems like he really cares about you, though. I’ve definitely heard you mention him before.”

Jason flops into the seat that Doctor Jones has just vacated. “Oh yeah, he’s the best. I had him sophomore year, for something, and then he’s just kept teaching the electives I wanted, you know? He’s a good dude, I just don’t want to let him down.”

Percy had gotten the distinct impression that the only thing Jason could do that would let Doctor Jones down would be to decide he hated his major, and drop out. Even then, the guy would probably support him regardless. “Yeah, I got you. Have you sent it in yet? Want to get out of here?”

“Yeah, lemme do that right now.” He drags himself back to his feet and heads over to the computer set up on one of the desks, fiddles with it for a few minutes. He hits a couple keys in rapid succession and sighs, loud and long. “Okay. Looks like I’m done with undergrad civil engineering.”

His face is doing a lot of things, and none of them look particularly positive, so Percy goes for him, drapes himself over the other boy’s back. Jason twists to get his arms around him, and holds on, ignoring how awkward the angle is. He’s not shaking, which is good, but he’s also breathing kind of funky, which is less than ideal.

When his breathing evens out again, he lets Percy go so he can wipe a hand over his face. Percy tugs on his hoodie drawstring a little, like that’ll do anything. 

“You good, dude?”

The hand comes off his face. “That’s four years of my life. What am I doing now?”

“Coming back to the house and smoking, obviously. And then, we’re gonna move to the city, so you can work your fancy internship and get even more experience under your belt, and then you’re gonna have your fucking pick of jobs, because you’re the smartest motherfucker I know.”

Jason closes his eyes for a second, and buries his hand in his dog’s fur. “At least I’ll have you. Looks like I’m not leaving this place behind after all.”

“Kappa Sig ‘til we die, dumbass. You’ve always got me with you.” It’s a little too tender, the way he’s been careful to avoid since California. “Let’s head home.”

The house is pretty empty when they get back, like the guys have all decided they have other places to be. There’s soft music coming from the direction of Frank’s room, but they don’t see anyone on the way to Percy’s. Jupiter gets one of his peanut butter filled toys, and settles onto Percy’s floor obediently.

He isn’t allowed on the roof, because even though he’s decently smart for a dog, he’s still a dog and they’re not confident that he won’t manage to tumble off. He hates that he can’t follow them, but he gets over it a lot faster if he has a toy.

Jason crawls out onto the roof first, and puts his hands out for all of Percy’s smoking stuff. Once he’s got it, Percy crawls out next to him and takes it back so he can start packing the bowl. They pass the pipe back and forth silently, except for Jason pointedly coughing a little so Percy will light it for him too, because he’s a giant baby who never learned how to use a lighter properly. 

Dumbass.

When Jason is loose and a little softer, he lays back on the roof, one arm behind his head. He’s still in Percy’s sweatshirt. They must have done this a thousand times, but Percy’s still in awe about how the light from the sunset is making him glow, beautiful and golden like he’s a god or something. The son of a god, maybe, because it’s cripplingly human, too, the way his bared throat is so fucking vulnerable. Percy could do anything, right now, and Jason would probably let him.

He leans through the window and grabs a blanket off his bed, tosses it over Jason. Jason tilts his head to smile at him, gentle. Vulnerable. 

Percy takes another hit from the pipe. 

It could very well be the last time they do this. Soon this room will be Malcolm’s, and they’ll be off to a shoebox sized apartment in the city. There won’t be a giant roof to climb out onto, none of the sounds Percy’s gotten used to from their campus that he’d never get in the city, birds chirping a block away that he can hear because the traffic noise is nonexistent. 

Maybe Jason won’t even want to be roommates. They haven’t talked about it, beyond establishing that they’d be in the same city, and that’s a horrible thought, that he’ll be alone. Annabeth and Piper are gonna live together, she told him last week. Piper’s moving with her, hoping to get a job at a congressperson’s office in the city. They’re gonna give it a shot, like real adults. He wants to be bitter, but he can’t bring himself to begrudge them this. 

Jason puts a hand on his knee. It takes him a second to shake himself out of his thoughts and look down, but when he does, Jason is still smiling that same soft smile. 

“What are you thinking about, dude? I can hear you stressing from here.”

He doesn’t want to look Jason in the eyes for this so he keeps his eyes fixed on the Crow letters, on the roof of their house across the street. “Are we going to live together, next year?”

Jason’s breath catches in his throat. He sits up, maybe a little too fast if the way he grabs at Percy’s shoulder to steady himself means anything. His eyes are a little hurt looking, and Percy tries to pretend he can’t see that, doesn’t want to think about what it means. “Percy.”

He doesn’t look.

“Percy.”

The Crow letters are kind of peeling, actually. They should look into replacing them over the summer.

“Babe, I need you to look at me.”

He looks.

Jason tightens the hand on his shoulder, squeezing like he’s trying to anchor Percy next to him. “Do you not want to?” He looks so fucking hurt, now, like it’s amplified exponentially for every second Percy wouldn’t meet his eyes. 

He hates himself for making Jason look like that. “Of course I want to. I just thought maybe you’d want to-” he cuts himself off. “I don’t know, we just never talked about it, and I realized I was just assuming you would, and I thought maybe you’d want. Something else.”

Jason looks a little confused, a little like Jupiter when he walks into a glass door. Maybe it’s true that dogs and their owners start to resemble each other. “I guess we didn’t. I assumed too, figured I couldn’t get rid of you that easy.”

It’s like someone took a massive weight off his shoulders that he didn’t even know was there, to hear Jason say that. He sighs a little, lets himself breathe in and out. 

“Why,” Jason adjusts his hat, like he needs to think about the next sentence for a minute, before he says it. “Why did you think I wouldn’t?”

Crippling insecurity, probably, that he’s been dealing with pretty well until this moment. The kind of internalized homophobia that you can’t get rid of, even if your family are the most supportive people in the world. 

His eyes are back on the Crow letters. He’s gonna text one of them, later. Maybe they don’t know ‘cause they don’t see it from this angle. 

Jason knows him well enough to know this is where he struggles, the whole putting his feelings into words thing. They both struggle with it, Jason because his family didn’t encourage communication, and Percy just in general. He doesn’t even have an excuse. 

It’s not a surprise that Jason keeps talking, to let Percy get his thoughts together. “I was worried you wouldn’t want to live with me, actually.” One of Jason’s hands is clenched on the roof next to him, like he’s hoping Percy can’t see it from here. “I thought maybe you were uncomfortable, because you knew how I felt about you.”

Why would Percy be uncomfortable with how Jason feels about him? It’s not Jason’s fault that Percy accidentally fell in love with him, or whatever, and Jason doesn’t feel the same. He looks back over at him. “What do you mean, how you felt about me?”

Jason’s getting red again, the way he did when Doctor Jones called Percy his boy, and when he gave Percy his sweatshirt at the Polar Plunge, and when he’d held Percy after his shot in California, and when he’d pulled away after he kissed Percy in the Pi Kapp basement, and- oh. That actually makes a lot of sense. 

“I’m in love with you, dude. I tried not to be, because it wasn’t fair to you to have to live with someone who had feelings for you, or whatever, and that didn’t work, so I just tried to hide it, so at least you wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.”

Percy is hot all over, even though it’s barely 55 outside. He can’t breathe right, and there’s no way he’s hearing this correctly. Jason looks so fucking open though, like Percy’s holding his whole fucking life in his hands. 

He’s still got the blanket over his legs, so it’s a little awkward for Percy to settle into his lap, but he does it anyway, legs spread around the width of Jason’s torso. He gets his hands looped behind Jason’s head, and looks into his eyes, as seriously as he can.

“I thought you knew I was in love with you. That’s why I thought you might not want to live with me, because you knew how I felt and it made you uncomfortable.”

Jason makes a kind of broken noise, deep in his throat. 

“I thought, after Halloween, that there was no way you wanted me. I kissed you, and you never brought it up.”

He’d spent so long panicking about that kiss, because he thought Jason didn’t remember. “We’re so fucking stupid, dude. I thought you didn’t want me, or you were too drunk to remember.”

Jason gets his hands around Percy’s waist, holds him tighter. “We’re so fucking stupid.”

They’re kissing, after that. It’s not even urgent, it just feels like they’re getting to know each other all over again, this time for real. He loses track fast, just melting a little more into Jason’s lap, letting Jason run his hands up and down his sides, his back, whatever he can reach.

Jason leans back after a while, lets his back rest all the way on the roof again. Percy follows, rolling off him but getting an arm back around his waist and letting his head drop onto Jason’s chest. The other boy loops an arm around his shoulders, holding him as close as they physically can. 

His voice rumbles in his chest, right under Percy’s ear when he speaks. “Move in with me. We’ll get an apartment in the city, close enough to see your family but far enough away that it’s just ours.”

Percy tucks his smile into Jason’s pec, so he can’t see. “Deal.”

It feels like a dream.

Neither of them is that high, but they’re both enough under the influence that it doesn’t seem like a good idea to start anything more than kissing. It seems like they’re both in, but there’s still a little voice in the back of Percy’s head, that sounds suspiciously like Beckendorf, saying “they can only consent if they’re sober!” It’s been drilled into him at every chapter meeting for four years, and fuck if he’s gonna stray from that now.

They keep kissing though, because he’s not a fucking saint.

When he wakes up in the morning, there’s a moment of panic that maybe it was a dream, and Jason doesn’t love him back, but it fades quickly when he processes the weight of Jason’s head on his chest, the light rising and falling of his sides against Percy as he snores. 

They’d made it inside eventually, and passed out in Percy’s bed. Apparently, they shifted places at some point during the night, because they’ve switched completely, Jason’s head on his chest and his arm wrapped around Jason’s shoulders, holding him to his side. 

He wants nothing more than to stay like that forever, but he has to pee, and he’s also starving, so that’s gonna be a raincheck. Still, he takes the scene in one more time before he moves, looking at the way Jason is pressed against him, his legs practically hanging off the bed so he’ll be in the right place to be held against Percy’s chest. He’s still in the NYU sweatshirt, and Percy’s monkey brain acts up again, seeing that kind of possession splayed across Jason’s chest. 

He cranes his neck so he can plant a kiss in Jason’s hair and mutters “babe,” once, just to hear how it sounds, and then again, a little louder. Jason doesn’t move. He tightens the arm around his shoulders next, hoping the light pressure will wake him up, but there’s no response until he gives in and shakes him a little. 

Jason’s head shoots up for a second, until he also processes where he is and lets himself drop back onto Percy’s chest. He plants a kiss over Percy’s heart and mutters “morning, baby,” into his sweatshirt. 

Percy’s heart fucking sings, hot and tight at the endearment and he can feel it in his throat, too, the way he loves Jason, wants to stay here like this forever. Still, he really has to pee, so he groans a little and shoves at the other boy. 

“Morning, Jay. If you move so I can get to the bathroom, I’ll make you coffee.”

Jason rolls off him with a considering look on his face, but keeps one arm pinned over Percy’s chest. “And? Need a better pitch than that, I’m really comfortable here.”

Percy makes a face like he’s thinking. “And, I’ll wear your sweatshirt while I do it.”

Jason picks his arm up off Percy’s chest, but holds it out for a handshake. When Percy takes it, he shakes it once, sharp and controlled like they’re making a business deal. “I accept your terms.”

Jason’s Kappa Sig sweatshirt, the same one he’s had since January, is on top of his dresser, so he grabs it on his way out. He’d lost his pants at some point overnight, probably from overheating, so he’s just in his boxers but it completes the look. Anyone else in the kitchen will just have to deal with it. 

Nico and Frank are in the kitchen, talking quietly about something that Percy can’t quite make out. They both give him some approximation of a bro-nod as he walks in, and Frank rolls his eyes at Percy’s outfit. Nico looks more closely, and snorts a little.

“I think you have to talk to him at some point, dude,” Frank says, like he’s older and wiser just ‘cause he has a girlfriend. “You can’t just keep wearing his clothes until he notices. We graduate in like, a week.”

Percy isn’t gonna dignify that with a response, because he did talk to Jason and he fucking knows Jason’s gonna notice he’s wearing his clothes, because he was the one suggested it. He turns to the coffee maker and starts scooping the beans, hoping it’ll actually work this morning. Once it starts brewing, he hunts for some mugs, and then pours out Jupiter’s breakfast.

He’s starting to pour it, halfheartedly listening in on whatever Nico’s saying about Frank visiting the di Angelo household this summer, when he hears the heavy thump of Jason’s feet on the stairs, and the jingle of Jupiter’s collar, a half step behind him.

He’s almost afraid to turn, like it’s some Orpheus situation, where if he turns to look at Jason the other boy will disappear. They didn’t even talk about anything last night, if they should tell the guys, or what they are. He doesn’t want to burst the bubble, if he can help it, so he stays focused on the coffee, lets Jason take the lead. 

Taking the lead, according to Jason, means wrapping his arms around Percy from behind, heavy and warm. Taking the lead is also planting a soft kiss on his cheek, and tugging until Percy’s facing him, back pressed against the counter, so they can kiss properly. He breaks away after a second, and leans his forehead on Percy’s, just breathing, glasses sliding down his nose a little. 

His voice is rough, either from morning or from the kissing, Percy’s not sure. “Wanted to do that fucking forever, every time I saw you in my clothes, just walking around. You have no idea, baby.”

Jason leans around him to grab a coffee off the counter, the one that’s slightly darker, because Percy knows his order too, like the back of his fucking hand. When he notices that, he grins and leans in for another kiss, ignoring the suspicious silence from behind them.

He’s still wearing the NYU sweatshirt, but he’s shucked his shorts, leaving him in just boxers as well. His hair is the softest it’s ever looked, golden and so fucking messy because he clearly didn’t stop for product. He’s only wearing one sock, because he’s an idiot, and the sweater smells very strongly of pot.

Percy grabs his own coffee and tugs the sleeve of his sweatshirt. “You smell fucking dank, dude. Didn’t want to go for something a little less cannabis-y?”

“Nah. It’s soft, and it smells like you, too, not just the weed,” he’s already turning towards the cupboards, poking around for bread. “You want french toast?”

Frank coughs, loudly and pointedly from where he’s sitting at the island with Nico, a first row seat to all of this. “Hey, real quick, super happy for you, can you not be fucking disgusting? Like, I’m begging you, don’t make me claw my fucking eyes out.”

Nico nods, very seriously. “Also, as newly elected vice president, I will have to fine you both. That was horrible to watch. It’s like you’re my dads, just going at it in front of me.”

Jason smiles at them, bright and gorgeous. Before Nico can move, he’s going for him, and gets his arm around him to noogie his head, obnoxiously and violently. They tussle for an impressively long time, given the weight, height, and muscle mass that Jason has on him, but eventually Nico gives in, banging his hand on the counter until Jason lets him up.

“You’re fucking happy for me dude, don’t front.”

“Nope. I hate you both. I’m actually homophobic, I don’t know if you knew that. I fucking despise gay people, bro, like you’re an abomination and shit.”

Still, he smiles when Percy climbs onto the stool next to him, and it reaches his eyes and everything. Frank leans over him to clap Percy on the shoulder.

“You guys know Hazel is gonna owe Annabeth like fifty bucks, for this? She’s gonna be pissed.” 

“Fuck, dude,” Nico says, dropping his head on the table. “I’m also gonna owe Annabeth like fifty bucks.” He looks up to glower at Jason, mixing eggs for french toast. “You couldn’t keep it in your pants for another week?”

Jason’s face is so earnest that Percy feels the urge to look away. It’s too open, too affectionate, and he can’t fucking handle it. “No, man,” he says, looking at Percy like he’s the only one in the room. “I really couldn’t.”

Nico mimes throwing up into his orange juice. 

Once Jason finishes the french toast, all four of them move to the table. Percy sits first, and Jason grabs the chair next to him, pulling it over a little closer than normal and resting his left hand on Percy’s thigh under the table. He’s not even moving it, not trying to be sexy or anything, just holding on like he can’t believe he gets to have this. 

Will comes downstairs eventually, kissing Nico on the cheek before going in search of the french toast that’s still sitting on the stove. When he comes back over, his eyes land on them, and then trail down to the table, where it’s pretty easy to guess where Jason’s hand is. 

“Fuck, Nico was right. Y’all are gonna be the worst.”

“Yeah,” Percy says, leaning over to kiss Jason’s cheek. “Probably.”

The worst part is that nothing changes after that. Apparently, they’ve been dating for years, just without the kissing, and without Jason saying “baby” like it’s fucking punctuation. Percy gets a lot of texts, the first few days, from everyone who owes Annabeth money now. 

Apparently even Grover was in on it, and he is “happy, but disappointed that my best bro betrayed me by getting together before graduation.”

Annabeth texted him, maybe an hour after he and Jason kissed in the kitchen, with a smiley face and a “fucking finally,” but then also a screenshot of her Venmo balance, which is suddenly above $200. He has no idea how many people were in on the bet, and has no desire to find out.

They sort of drift in the honeymoon phase for the rest of the week. They still bicker, because that’s never going to change. They still play fight, too, it just ends in making out more often than not. Percy gets used to feeling his phone buzz with Venmo requests from the fine jar, and Jason gets used to Nico appearing in random places to wave it in his face. 

Graduation is on a Thursday, for some reason, so Percy’s family gets in on Wednesday. He’d texted his mom to tell her that they were together, attached a picture of Jason in the NYU sweatshirt, sitting across from him on a picnic blanket in the quad. Apparently Annabeth had already texted her, because she responded with a “Told you so.” and then, a few minutes later, “He’s coming out for dinner with us before graduation.”

They swing by the house before checking into their hotel, and pull Jason and Percy into a group hug in the entryway, his mom holding on for so long that Percy’s a little afraid he’ll have to physically tap out. 

He’s excited to see them, just makes sure all evidence of weed and juuling in his room is tucked safely into the pockets of his winter jacket, no longer needed in the spring weather. Jason, unfortunately, is convinced that they’ll no longer love him, now that he’s a boyfriend and not just a friend, and Percy can see it in the way he straightens up out of the hug, and his voice drops into a more formal register, like he still has to make a good impression.

It’s only made worse by the impending arrival of Thalia, (Jason’s favorite person in the world), and his dad, (the person he wants to impress the most in the world). Apparently, Mr. Grace doesn’t even want to come by the house to see where his son has lived for three years, is content to just see him at graduation, and then for an awkward dinner afterwards. 

Paul had suggested that they combine the post graduation dinners, but Jason’s face going pale had been enough to talk him out of that. Percy will shake hands with Mr. Grace after the ceremony, try his hardest to make a good impression (read: play up how white-passing he is, and not share any political opinions), and then leave the Graces to it. 

Fortunately, Thalia is excited to be included in the Jackson family dinner the night before the ceremony, and charms everyone with her quiet but commanding demeanor, including Estelle, who thinks her piercings are the coolest thing in the world. Jason and Percy sit next to each other, and bask in the Jackson-Blofises’ pride. 

After they finish eating, Thalia gives Percy what is more or less a shovel talk in front of everyone present. It’s mostly her trying to hide how happy she is that Jason is happy, and then getting a terrifying look on her face when she growls out, “don’t mess it up.” He nods, as seriously as he can, and then accepts the hug she follows it with.

Thalia and Percy’s family drop them back off at the house, so they can sleep there for the last night before they become alumni, officially. Frank is already back from dinner with his own grandmother, and he’s waiting with the rest of the guys from the house in the living room. 

There’s a couple things the three of them have to do for the tradition of it all, signing a paddle in the basement that says “Class of 2020” in block letters, and doing one last shot in the kitchen, where they took their first drinks during initiation their freshman year. Jason and Percy have to hand Will and Nico the president’s gavel while everyone else looks on to confirm the transfer, and Percy pretends he doesn’t see Nico tear up, just a little bit, when Jason’s hand releases it for the last time.

They drink after that, and all the seniors stay gathered in the living room so people can come by and pay their respects, like they’re dying instead of graduating. Percy doles out more hugs than he can count, but the one that sticks the firmest in his mind, even with the alcohol, is Malcolm, crying on his shoulder. They shake hands after they seperate, firm and serious, like Percy’s passing the torch of being the highest ranked trans brother. 

Eventually, the guys start to disappear to bed, or to get drunk somewhere else, until it’s just e-board and Nico on the first floor. They’re sitting in a tight circle on the carpet, so everyone’s in arm’s reach. 

Leo starts the last tradition, looking at each of them in turn before he speaks. “My favorite moment, this year, was definitely the car wash in the fall. We raised plenty of money, and none of you noticed me and Will taking shots in between each car.” 

He hits Will’s shoulder next to him, and Will takes the cue, doing the same scan of the circle. “My favorite was the Thanksgiving dinner. Having everyone together meant a lot, especially because I couldn’t make it home this year.” He drops his hand onto Nico’s knee, gentle.

Nico looks like he’d rather be doing anything else than having to express a single emotion. “My favorite was when we went to California. It was nice, to have us all in one place before we split up this summer.” There’s only a little stutter in the words, showing that he’s affected at all, but Percy tries to look emotional nonetheless. He’s got to encourage Nico having and expressing feelings. 

Jason’s on Nico’s other side, because there was no way they were going to be separated tonight. They’re pressed together almost as tight as Will and Nico are. “My favorite was the Pi Kapp Halloween party-” 

Leo cuts him off with a boo, waving his arm. “No being sappy, dude, this is about our sacred bro-ship.”

Jason glares at him, but there’s absolutely no heat behind it. “My favorite was the Pi Kapp Halloween party, because it was the best rager of the year, dude, is that what you want to hear?” Percy wraps his arm around Jason’s shoulders, tugging a little to make him talk. “And, because it was the first time I thought there was a chance Percy had even a fraction of the same feelings I did.”

They’re so fucking stupid.

Jason wraps his arm around Percy’s waist, and he leans into the warmth, thinking about it for a second. “My favorite was when we were in California, that day we played football by the beach. It was just a good day, all around.”

Frank’s at the end of the circle, and he puts his hand on Percy’s shoulder, brotherly and warm. “My favorite was the Polar Plunge. I was so happy to be back with all of you, after winter break, that I didn’t even care how cold I was.”

When his mom asks the next morning, Percy will tell her that no one cried while they were saying goodbye. He won’t mention dragging Will and Nico onto the roof with him and Jason to smoke one last time, because it’s fucking presidential and someone has to carry on the tradition. 

He’s also not gonna tell her that he fell asleep in the house for the last time with Jason wrapped around him, holding each other as tightly as they could manage, because they were both terrified to even think about entering the real world.

She can probably guess that one, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jason graduates wearing the watch that the Jacksons gave him, and Percy's mom pretends she doesn't tear up when she notices. Both he and Percy move into Percy's family's apartment while they look for their own, but they manage to find one that's close enough to the subway for both of them. 
> 
> It's in a shitty building, the elevator barely works, and it's cold all the time. They both love it more than anything. Annabeth and Piper are only a few blocks away, and they turn the weekly lunch into a weekly double date. 
> 
> They live happily ever after.


End file.
